Bonds of Brotherhood
by tears-in-rain
Summary: WIP. Senior year is supposed to be difficult enough, but when the Dark Wizard Baltor threatens the Magical Universe just surviving to see graduation day becomes a challenge in its own right. Sequel to Brothers at Arms & Band of Brothers
1. The Princess Ball

_**A/N: **__Okay, I've sat on this long enough and even though I still haven't finished writing the second half to this story I figured it's high time I do something about it. So please take note that this is a __**WORK IN PROGRESS**__. There will not to regular updates. At the moment it's probably only going to be a chapter a month, but hey, you guys have been patience enough. _

_So first off, Winx Club belongs to __Iginio Straffi and his associates so the only profit I make out of this is just the fun of writing. Just a little reminder that I'm working off the __**4Kids**__ version of the show that seemed to indicate that students attend four years of schooling in Magix, so the RF boys are looking at graduating at that end of this school year. Honestly, I have no intention of setting up for seasons four, five or six because a) I built my storylines within the 4Kids canon b) I'm not a huge fan of how the later seasons are progressing and c) too much hard work._

_Having said all that, enjoy._

* * *

**BONDS OF BROTHERHOOD**

**By tears-in-rain**

**Chapter One – The Princess Ball**

The academy of Alfea sparkled brightly in the morning sun as Prince Sky made his way through the elegant, open gates. The School for Fairies looked as it always did; radiant, beautiful, powerful and oh so feminine. The schools cream coloured walls glowed vibrantly in the morning light and the suns rays glistened off the well-washed windows. The grounds were somewhat empty since a majority of the students had already returned home for the summer so there was a tranquil kind of strength about the school, like a mountain lion peacefully sleeping in the sun.

Climbing off his now silent levi bike, Sky removed his helmet and with a toss of his head, he flicked his blonde hair out of his eyes as climbed the front steps into the school. He had a private flight back to his home planet of Eraklyon scheduled for that afternoon, so this was going to be his last chance to see his beloved girlfriend Bloom before he left. Summer break wasn't really that long in the grand scheme of things, but he was still going to miss the fiery fairy that had left him enamoured from the first moment he had laid eyes on her. Only a few days ago Lord Darkar had taken Bloom from him and although he and the rest of his friends had managed to get her back and save the Magical Universe, Sky had vowed to himself that he was going to do all in his power to protect her from now on. He had also made the mistake of telling his best friend Brandon about that vow and ended up being mocked for several hours because of it.

Walking through the corridors, Sky smiled warmly at the fairies that crossed his path. Although he was nothing if not an utterly faithful boyfriend, Sky couldn't prevent his ego getting boosted up a couple of sizes when he saw that several of the fairies in the grades below him flush and giggle when he grinned at them. It was the end of the school year, he and his friends had just stopped the villain Lord Darkar from taking over the Magical Universe, he had one more year of high school left and he had all of summer ahead of him. Yeah, he couldn't help but be in a good mood.

Or at least, he was right up until the point where he rounded a corner and collided headlong into a fairy walking the opposite direction, her nose buried deep in a trashy magazine.

"Son of a . . !" the fairy hissed, rubbing her chest where Sky's elbow had collided with it. Her dark eyes were blazing when she looked up at the Prince, ready to rip him to pieces for daring to collide with _her_, but when she saw who she was addressing she quickly reigned in her temper as any child with decent breeding would do. "Prince Sky. What a pleasure it is to see you again."

"Hello Victoria," Sky forced out a small smile, trying to make it look as genuine as possible. While Victoria was the very example of polite to him, Sky knew for a fact that she was positively malicious to Brandon and the rest of his friends whenever she got the chance. Victoria was cold, conniving and vindictive but the most dangerous part about her was that the privileged fairy could be all those things whilst maintaining the appearance of being utterly lovely to those that mattered. She had been the one who had led the campaign to make Stella's first year at Alfea a living hell and yet any of her teachers would describe her as being a kind, charming girl that was always considerate to her fellow classmates (1). Sky would have liked nothing more that to brush her off but unfortunately he had been raised better. "I hope you're well."

"I am. Thank you for asking," Victoria replied politely. An awkward silence fell over the pair until Victoria thought of something to say. "I guess I owe you some belated congratulations for your victory against Lord Darkar. That was very impressive."

"Thank you."

"You and your squad did very well considering the circumstances."

Sky blinked. "What do you mean circumstances?"

"Well let's face it; the whole situation was poorly handle right from the start," Victoria commented as if it was completely obvious to everyone. "The second Ms. Faragonda and the others realised that Lord Darkar was after the Ultimate Power, all four pieces of the Codex should have been scattered and kept under stricter security, not left in a high school under the protection of Stella and her friends."

Sky's eyes narrowed before he could think to stop it. There was just something in Victoria's tone when she mentioned the Winx Club that rubbed him the wrong way. "Stella and her friends were the ones who defeated Lord Darkar."

"Yes, but Ms. Faragonda and the others should have arranged it so that Lord Darkar never had a chance to get his hands on all four pieces of the Codex to begin with. After all, even removing just one piece would have thrown a spanner in the works. And yes, it was those sophomore fairies that defeated him in the end, but it was also them who let the Trix walk away with Red Fountain's Codex. Furthermore they stood by and did absolutely nothing when it came to protecting Cloud Tower's Codex and then they literally handed Alfea's piece right over to Lord Darkar."

"Hey! That wasn't Bloom's fault!" Sky snapped. It might sound a little cliché, but _no one_ insulted his girlfriend's honour, especially not in front of him.

Victoria arched one meticulously groomed eyebrow. "Oh, but your Highness, I wasn't singling any individual out. You did that on your own. I hope you don't mind me noting that perhaps there's something you're not acknowledging about recent events?"

"I do mind, actually," Sky informed her sharply. He had walked right into Victoria's mind games, he knew that, and he was furious because of it. Seconds before he had run into the malicious fairy he had been thinking about how much he wanted to protect Bloom and the moment she was faced with a threat, he basically sold her out. Granted, the threat was cleverly disguised in Victoria's subtle vindictive charm, but Sky still felt incredibly slack for letting Victoria manipulate him against his girlfriend so easily.

"I apologise," Victoria said in a tone that sounded sincere but Sky was almost positive that she didn't mean it. With an elegant little bow of her head, Victoria shot him what appeared on the surface to be a completely innocent smile. "I'll excuse myself. Good day, your Highness."

Sky didn't even try to reply to her as she continued on her way. He was far too angry with both himself and her to speak. The Prince was so mad that he stayed rooted to the spot where he stood long after the sound of Victoria's five-inch heels echoing down the hallway became too faint to hear.

"Son of a bitch," Sky hissed under his breath as soon as he was positive there was no way Victoria could hear him. He had known since freshmen year just how much of a bitch Victoria could be, but he always forgot how manipulative she could be without him even realising it. The fact that he was walked so blindly into her trap was probably what angered him the most and there was nowhere for him to direct that anger but inwards. And that was a bitter pill he didn't want to swallow.

Sky was still seething when the sound of someone running up behind him reached his ears and before he could even turn around, the person leapt onto his back, throwing their arms around his neck in a warm hung. "Sky!" Bloom's familiar voice giggled into his ear. "I've been waiting for you to get here."

"Hey Bloom," Sky grumbled, not even smiling when Bloom reached over and kissed him on the cheek. He was in a foul mood now and it was going to take more than a few seconds for him to get out of it. Bloom, however, was oblivious.

"Oh, I can't believe it's finally summer break! I thought this year would never end!" Bloom exclaimed, sliding off his back before slipping her hand into his. "I am so looking forward to having a break for a while!"

"Yeah," Sky muttered unenthusiastically.

"My mom wanted me to help her in her flower shop, but Stella and a few of the girls invited me to spend some time at their places this year and let's face it, hanging out with your friends beats a summer job every time. I'm sure my mom won't mind me skipping out on her this one time. After all, you're only young once! Hey, do you think you and Brandon would be able to make a road trip to Solaria when I'm visiting Stella? We could double date and have Stella show us around her realm! How cool would that be?"

"I'll have to see what my plans are for this summer first," Sky answered rather coldly. This time, Bloom noticed his tone and stared at him cautiously.

"Um, are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine."

"Well I am!" Sky snapped, causing his girlfriend to flinch at his sharp tone. Her blue eyes were wide with shock and concern at his outburst, prompting Sky sighed heavily before apologising. "Look, I'm sorry Bloom. I'm just under a bit of stress at the moment. My realm's got its bicentennial coming up and I just got word that I'm going to have to be the host of the Millennium Party the court's having so I'm going to have to be involved in a lot of the planning over the next few months."

"Oh. Okay."

"I mean of course I would rather go on a holiday with you, but I've just got too much going on back at the palace at the moment. We're inviting royalty and honoured guest from all over the Magical Universe and it's my duty as Prince to make sure that the party is of a particular standard and goes off without a hitch."

"Royalty from all over the Magical Universe," Bloom repeated slowly, her eyes becoming somewhat defensive. "I guess that means from Quartz (2) as well, huh?"

Sky's temper, which was just starting to die down, suddenly flared up again. "Oh, you're still not obsessing over Diaspro, are you?"

"Obsessing?"

"Come on, Bloom. It was nothing."

"Nothing? You two were going to get _married_," Bloom reminded him, a noticeable level of heat in her voice. Sky didn't understand it, but the Last Princess of Sparx always got suspicious and self-conscious whenever Sky's former fiancée was brought up.

The Prince wasn't expecting Bloom to ever become best friends with Diaspro, but she didn't have to act like Sky was going to go running back to his ex at the first chance he got. After all, it wasn't like Sky had even wanted to marry Diaspro in the first place. It was an arranged marriage born out of the fact that Eraklyon and Quartz had strong trade agreements and their fathers had wanted to strength those ties by marrying their heirs. Sky had begrudgingly gone along with it until he met Bloom and decided he wasn't going to let politics govern every aspect of his life. He was in love with Bloom; he just wished she'd believe that. "Yeah and I called it off so can we please move passed it already?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, come on. You know I had no real feelings for her and you know how much I like you, so this whole insecurity thing you got going on about her is completely ridiculous. Just get over it. You've been carrying on about this for over a year now and, quite frankly, I'm getting sick of it."

"Sick of what, Sky?" Bloom snarled, her blue eyes narrowed and blazing. "Sick of us?"

"No, sick of you getting all hysterical the second someone so much as mentions Diaspro's name. Sick of having to defending myself against accusations that one day I'm going to cheat on you with her. Sick of having to remind you time and time again that I want be with you, not her. I mean, last fall you were willing to believe what a tabloid magazine said before even talking to me. A tabloid? How naïve can you get?"

"Oh, so now I'm hysterical and naïve, am I?"

"You know what I mean."

"No I don't, but I will tell you what I do know; I know that you've already lied to me once about Diaspro, so what the hell's stopping you from doing it a second time? I know that your mother still thinks that I'm not a suitable match for you all because I don't have a gem mine in my backyard. And now I know that you can be an absolute ass when you want be, Prince Sky of Eraklyon," Bloom spat, venom dripping from her words.

"That's it. I'm out of here," Sky announced, turning on heel and marching back towards the front of the school where his levi bike was parked.

"Who was inviting you to stay?!" Bloom shouted after him.

It wasn't until he reached his levi bike that Sky's temper started to die down and guilt started to gnaw at him. He should not have spoken to Bloom that way. Yes, he was frustrated with the way Diaspro still managed to cause issues between them after all these years, but that didn't justify taking it out on his girlfriend. It was only a matter of days ago that he had first confessed to Bloom that he was in love with her, to which she then had reciprocated.

Running a tired hand down his face, Sky contemplated heading back inside to seek Bloom out and apologise to her but then he saw Victoria and her friends sitting on a bench on the far side of Alfea's quad. Almost as if she sensed someone's eyes on her, Victoria looked up suddenly and when she saw Sky looking at her, she shot him a quick, friendly-looking smile. However, even from a distance Sky could see that there was hardness in her eyes that was anything but pleasant, causing flames of fury to suddenly blaze up again inside of the Prince. With a barely suppressed growl, Sky shoved his helmet back onto his head, climbed onto his levi bike and sped back towards Red Fountain.

* * *

Red Fountain had always had a strong affiliation with dragons, so the heroes had come to find it rather commonplace to be around the great, mythical creatures. However, for the first time in almost three decades, the stables of Red Fountain had a foal, which was something even dragon breeders had a difficulty becoming accustomed to. There was just something about dragons when they were foals that could only be described as magical. Amethyst had only hatched just less than two weeks ago, but she was already the size of a fully-grown large breed dog. Like all dragon foals, Amethyst had an extended wing span so that she would be able to keep up with her mother whilst in the air, but they did from time to time make her look rather clumsy and awkward while she was on the ground. Although the same couldn't be said when she was in the water.

"She's so cute!" Brandon couldn't help but gush as he, Timmy, Riven and Helia watched the young dragon splash around in the paddle pool that the stable master, Shannon, had provided for her. The pool wasn't deep enough for the foal to submerge herself completely, but if she kept her feet tucked up close to her belly she could paddle her way around in a circle, pushing balls and other floating chew toys around with her blunt, little nose. Meanwhile her mother, Rouge, doze in the sun not far away, though the young heroes knew that she would leap into action should anything dare to threatened her offspring. "Seriously, I wish she'd just stay that size forever."

"I highly doubt that's gonna happen," Riven told the squire, leaning over the side of the corral Shannon had built for the mother and foal. "She's grown like a foot and a half in four days."

"I know that. I said, 'I _wish_ she would stay that size' not that she would."

"You are aware that there is such thing as miniature dragons," Timmy pointed out, grinning as Amethyst beat her oversized wings against the surface of the water. The little dragon was so pleased with the noise it produce that she let out a series of happy chirping sounds until one of her toys caught her attention again and she began stalking it.

"Yeah but they're not really that miniature," Helia noted calmly. "Fully-grown miniature dragons are the size of a standard small car."

"Plus they're molten dragons, not aviary dragons, and nobody likes them cause they're ugly," Brandon finalised. Molten dragons were a variety of dragons that were more adapted to being on the ground as oppose to the air. They were bulkier, heavier, less intelligent and more irritable than the air adapted aviary dragons that most stables – including Red Fountain – favoured.

"Just because molten dragons have a harder and thicker hind doesn't mean that they're not without their own beauty," Helia informed them all with an overdramatised haughty tone that made his friends grin.

"Uh-huh. And are you going to write a poem about that, poet man?"

"Maybe I will."

"You do that then. You can call it _'Ode to an Ugly Dragon'_," Brandon suggested with a smirk. Suddenly, Rouge's head snapped up and she glared at the squire with unnaturally intelligent orange eyes. "No, I didn't mean you. Honest. You're a very attractive dragon, Rouge. Everyone says so. If anyone was going to write a poem about you, it would be called _'Ode to a Beautiful Dragon'_ and it would go something like, _'Oh, Beautiful Dragon, how thou doth shine so bright. Thy scales gleam like . . ._ um _. . . pebbles and thy . . . claws are clipped just right'_."

"Oh, Brandon, no. Just . . . no," Helia said firmly, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Why? What's wrong with my poem?"

"It sounds like a six-year-old wrote it."

"Which is pretty much how I would describe Brandon's level of maturity," Riven commented drily.

"Shut up, Riven," Brandon shot back, but it was more a knee-jerk reaction than an actual attack. After what was now three years together, the biting banter that occurred between the squad was just a reflex, not a conscious thought. Riven was half a beat away from throwing something back at the squire when everyone felt the atmosphere in the stables shift as Sky came storming in. Everyone froze as Sky leaned up against the yard railing so he could watch Amethyst play, but his expression was frightening. "You right, bro?"

"Yes," Sky answered a little too quickly, his eyes still locked on the baby dragon that was currently entertaining herself by blowing bubbles in the water. For a long moment nobody said anything as they waited for the Prince to reconsider his answer and eventually Sky broke the silence. "No. I feel awful. Before my private jet gets here, I wanted to go over to Alfea to say goodbye to Bloom properly but instead we ended up having a massive fight."

"About what?" Timmy asked, giving his friend his full attention.

"Diaspro."

"Again?" Riven groaned.

"I know," Sky agreed with a heavy sigh. "Yeah, it's annoying that Bloom's still insecure about the whole Diaspro thing and I wish she'd move passed it but that's still no excuse for the way I blew up at her like I did. I was just in such a rotten mood that I didn't even think about what was coming out of my mouth."

"You weren't in a rotten mood when you left," Timmy noted.

"Yeah, but then I kinda had a bit of a run in with Victoria before I saw Bloom."

"Oh yuck!" Brandon exclaimed, shuttering at the mere mention of that fairy. "Enough said."

"I know, but the things I said to Bloom . . ." Sky trailed off. Running his hand through his blonde hair, Sky sighed once again. "I just hate to leave it like that, you know? I mean, I'm gonna be caught up with the planning for this bicentennial party thing all summer and Bloom's apparently thinking of realm trotting so she can hang out with her friends, so it's looking like I'm not going to see her until school starts up again."

"Could you go find Bloom quickly and speak to her before you leave?" Helia asked gently.

Sky shook his head. "No. My private jet is going to get here any minute."

"So then call her from the flight," Riven suggested, with a tone that indicated that he felt Sky was wasting their time worrying over something that had an easy fix. "She's that hooked on you she won't care."

"Secret service protocol won't allow Sky make a call mid-flight," Brandon informed the group. "They believe that if a terrorist or an enemy of Eraklyon tap into the satellite call, they'll be able to get the coordinates of the ship and shoot down the heir to throne."

"Really?" Riven asked before turning to address Sky. "Man, it must suck being you sometimes."

"Yeah," Sky sighed for the third time in only a matter of minutes just as his phone went off. Pulling it out, Sky quickly glanced at the text message that had been sent to him. "That my ship. I got to go. You guys gonna try and make an effort to get to Eraklyon for a few days?"

"If it means getting away from my sisters for a little bit; definitely," Timmy assured him as the others gave the Prince a friendly slap on the back as a parting gift.

"Great. I'll see you guys in a little while."

* * *

"So tell me again why you're not going with Sky?" Riven asked, chalking up his pool cue. The four remaining heroes had decided to spend the day at Arcadium, a pool hall and video arcade in Magix where the boys had spent a lot of their free time hanging out at when they were in freshmen year. They were currently playing a game of pool, with Riven and Helia acting as one team and Timmy and Brandon on the other. "I thought you two were attached at the hip or something."

"Not always. He's going back home to work on that party thing and he really doesn't need me there," Brandon explained as Timmy lined up a shot. "In fact, if you ask me they really don't even need Sky there. I think they just want him in the loop so he doesn't freeze up when it's show time or whatever, but there's no reason why they can't do that over the phone or with a memo. Apparently I'm not important enough to be allowed to join the meeting, which is why I'm gonna catch a later flight back to Eraklyon so I can have a chance to hang out with Stell for a bit before I go. What about you? When are you and Helia heading to Vallisto so you can meet your in-laws?"

"Ha! Ya funny," Riven growled sarcastically. For years the former thief had been insinuating that Brandon and Sky's relationship went beyond platonic brotherly love, and now Brandon was able to retaliate by suggesting the same thing about Riven and Helia's newly formed friendship. Sky and Helia, for their part, just tended to ignore the banter that occurred between their 'partners' like any good spouse would, but their indifference didn't deter Brandon and Riven's enthusiasm at trying to throw as many suggestive comments as possible at one another. "We're heading out tomorrow."

"So no more summer camps, Riv?" Timmy smirked, knowing Riven had a love-hate relationship with how he usually spent his summer holidays.

Riven snorted as he moved out of the way so that Helia could move around the table. "_Hn_. Glorified babysitters. That all they are."

"Well, I'd trade you a summer at camp for one of my family reunions," Timmy offered and Riven laughed.

"Pass. I've heard your stories about your family."

"Yeah, I don't envy you, man," Brandon grinned, but before he could remind Timmy further of what a large and slightly dysfunctional family he belonged to, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He was in the process of digging it out when three other message tones sounded and the rest of them made a grab for their phones. After unlocking his keypad, Brandon opened the message that flashed up in front of his face in elegant, gold holographic writing.

It read;

_Dear Brandon of Eraklyon, _

_His Royal Majesty, King Radius of Solaria, cordially invites you to attend a Princess Ball for his beloved daughter, Princess Stella, Radiant Jewel of Solaria. The Royal Palace will hold this auspicious occasion and will be hosted by King Radius, who has a special announcement to make. _

_His Royal Majesty and the Court of Solaria anticipate your attendance. _

Brandon grinned widely as he read over the rest of the message which went on to inform him of the time and date of the party as well as the number to RSVP to regarding whether or not he would be attending. He had never been to a Princess Ball, but Sky had told him all about the one he had gone to when he was about ten. Back then it had held no interest to them but now Brandon was at an age where something like that might just appeal to him. Good food, champagne and an abundance of pretty girls in dresses. What wasn't there to like?

"What the hell's a Princess Ball?" Riven asked curtly, reading the same message Brandon had received.

"It's a party to formally celebrate the official launching of a princess into her royal duties of court," Helia explained evenly.

"Launching? Makes her sound like a ship or something."

"You refer to my girlfriend as a ship again and I'm gonna clobber you over the head," Brandon informed his friend sternly as he sent his RSVP to the number on the message. "By the way, you're going and you're not going to complain about it."

"And how do you figure that?"

"Because I'm pretty sure that if you don't do it for me, Musa's gonna look up at you with those big, blue eyes of hers, her bottom lip push out in an adorable little pout and she going to ask you in a sweet, pleading voice for you to give her a night to remember," Brandon told his friend, sidling up close to him and giving his best impression of how he thought Musa would proposition her boyfriend. Riven glared at the squire with a strong combination of annoyance and disgust that deepened when Brandon's impression shifted into a wide smirk. "And I'll bet that you're going to give her anything she wants."

"Shut up!" Riven growled, shoving Brandon away from him and causing the brunette to laugh loudly.

"What do you think this special announcement's going be?" Timmy asked, also replying to the RSVP and entering the party into his digital calendar.

"Maybe Radius is finally going to admit that he had an affair with a harpy and that's Stella true origins?" Riven speculated. Without even looking up from the invitation that he was re-reading, Brandon slammed his heel down painfully onto Riven's foot, causing the burgundy haired teen to curse loudly.

"You had that coming," Helia told his roommate calmly and Timmy nodded in agreement. "Plus, you're not fooling anyone. We all know you don't hate Stella as much as you pretend to."

"Oh, yes I do," Riven hissed, holding his foot up off the ground as it throbbed with pain.

"Yeah, well, it's her Princess Ball so you better be polite to her. Also I better remind you that there's probably going to be a lot of important people at this thing – both from Solaria and from other realms – so you better treat my girlfriend with the respect she deserves and not embarrass her in anyway. She's royalty," Brandon stressed, glaring at Riven who grunted in reply. Brandon was going to press his point further when a thought suddenly popped into his head. "Oh my god! Sky!"

Timmy, Riven and Helia all jumped at the squire's sudden exclamation. "What happened?" Timmy asked, clearly alarmed.

"He's already on his way back to Eraklyon and if he can't convince the flight crew to turn around, his mother is never going to let him go!"

"If Sky doesn't have to go, I don't have to go," Riven instantly spoke up, but everyone just went about ignoring him.

"But wouldn't Sky's parents be invited?" Timmy assumed.

"Probably not," Helia answered, since he seemed to have a pretty good idea of international affairs. "If it was something like celebrating a realms thousand year anniversary like what's happening in Eraklyon this year, then there would be a lot more international guests invited. Princess Balls, on the other hand are normally treated as a domestic event since it basically just involves their court."

"But just because Sky's parents aren't invited doesn't necessarily mean that they won't let Sky go. I mean, yeah, I know he's got that party thing to deal with but Stella's his friend. I'm sure his parents will understand and let him go," Timmy said before shooting a glance in Brandon's direction. "Right?"

"You've never actual met his parents, huh?" Brandon asked with a deadpan expression on his face. It was his shot but he was so distracted by the conversation that he only managed to clip one of his balls and didn't come close to sinking any.

"Just that little bit on the parade grounds during the Day of the Royals sophomore year."

"Yeah, well, count yourself lucky," Brandon mumbled before clarifying further. Meanwhile Riven managed to sink one of his team's balls and then took a shot at another. "In public they're very elegant and polite, but underneath it all they're both through and through snobs – Sky's mom especially – and it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if they place their Millennium Party above Stella's Princess Ball."

"Bloom's not going to like that very much," Helia noted quietly.

"Are you guys kidding me?" Riven asked, folding his arms across his chest and raising one of his eyebrows in disbelief. "Am I the only one who thinks Sky actually has the balls to stand up to his mama and tell her to stick it? He managed to do it about that whole Diaspro thing and I'm sure we can all agree that calling off a marriage between the royal families of two realms has a bit more consequence that ditching some pre-party meeting. Give the guy a little bit of credit, would ya."

"It's a bit ironic that you're the one sticking up for him considering you're usually the first one to cut him down," Timmy had to point out, an amused smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"I believe I've been a strong enough negative influence to him over the last few years for him to rebel against his parents effectively," Riven explain confidently, sounding a lot like a seasoned general discussing battle tactics. The three other boys all considered what he said for a moment before they nodded.

"All right. I'll give you that," Brandon agreed. "But my money's still on his mother putting her foot down."

Riven's eyebrows shot up. "Bets?"

"Twenty?"

"You're on," Riven shook on it.

"You're both idiots," Timmy told them as he lined himself up for his next shot.

"I agree," Helia seconded.

"Shut up," Brandon and Riven both said in unison.

A few more games of pool and far too many rounds of childish name calling to count later, the four boys found themselves facing a new dilemma; lunch was quickly approaching and in a city like Magix, what to choose out of the massive selection that was available to them became a problem in itself. They could have just gotten something incredibly unhealthy from the arcade's food kiosk, but after living on that food for most of their freshmen year it had lost a bit of its appeal.

"There's a pub down town that has cheap lunchtime steaks," Riven suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds great. One problem; none of us turn eighteen 'til later in the year (3)," Brandon pointed out sharply. "They're gonna stop us at the door and the only one who's gonna get in is you with your fake ID. So let's rule that one out."

"You know, you could have just said no," Riven snared back. "Or gotten off your high road long enough to let me get you a fake ID so we wouldn't have this problem."

"How 'bout we get pizza?" Timmy put forward, shooting Riven a warning look. It wasn't so much that they didn't want fake ID's, but the squad had collectively decided that they would not encourage that kind of illicit behaviour in their friend anymore. It was for his own good, even through Riven had failed to see their point and simply rolled his eyes at the notion.

"We had it for dinner three days ago and then had it for breakfast two days ago," Helia reminded him, leaning up against his pool cue and putting his cheek at serious risk of getting blue pool chalk on it.

"I got it!" Brandon announced, snapping his fingers. "Let's go get a kebab!"

"Those thing only taste good at one in the morning after a big night of drinking," Riven said even though everyone knew that, if it came down to it, the redhead would eat anything.

"I'm not a fan of those things anyway," Timmy confessed. "The places that sell them seem to have very poor hygiene standards and the meat they use looks like it's been rotating on that spit for at least a fortnight. And since when does chicken come in a foot long log that you can fit on a spit? It doesn't even look like a chicken (4)."

"How 'bout we have a cook out with some burgers," Sky suggested.

"That's really good idea, Sky," Brandon nodded. A beat later it hit him who it was he was actually talking to and he spun around to stare at his Prince in disbelief. "Sky! You're here!"

"Pity the fool who tries to get anything passed you," Sky grinned as Brandon gave him an enthusiastic hug.

Riven was also excited to see the Prince, though for a completely selfish reason. "Ha! I told you he'd get out of it! Pay up, squire!"

"Aren't you meant to be in Eraklyon right now?" Timmy asked as Brandon begrudgingly pulled out his wallet and handed over a twenty-dollar note.

"Yes. Yes I am but I got Stella's invitation to her Princess Ball – by the way, secret service freaked out massively over the fact that I had left my phone on and I'm sure that they're never going to let me live it down – so I convinced the pilot to turn the ship around and take me back to Magix," Sky explained.

Riven's face fell. "You mean instead of telling your parents to 'shove off' you just turned tail and ran away like a scared, little girl?"

"I guess you could see it that way," Sky frowned, not liking the way his friend had worded it. Brandon, however, grinned widely.

"I'll just be taking that back then," Brandon smirked, plucking his twenty-dollar note out of Riven's hand.

"Nah-uh. You bet that his parents wouldn't let him go and he'd be too gutless to stand up to them, not that he'd be such a coward that he tuck his tail between his legs and slink off instead," Riven corrected, snatching the twenty back.

"Then who won the bet?"

"Timmy and I did," Helia answered with a completely straight face.

"What? How do you figure that?" Brandon demanded to know.

"Because we were the ones who both agreed that you two were idiots," Helia explained. The inevitable stand off ensured, but even though Brandon and Riven were two of the most stubborn people at Red Fountain, they had nothing when faced with Helia's cool, cobalt stare. Calmly, Helia held out his hand expectantly. "Pay up."

"Fine," Riven caved, slapping the twenty-dollar note into his roommate's hand.

"And Timmy."

"I hate you," Riven grumbled, pulling out his wallet to pay Timmy since Helia had Brandon's twenty.

"Like I care? I'm twenty dollars richer and your twenty dollars poorer."

"What the hell was that all about?" Sky asked Timmy. The second he had finished reading Stella's Princess Ball invitation, he thought he had a pretty clear idea of what he needed to do; first of all, convince the pilot to turn the ship around and then find his friends so they could go meet up with the girls for lunch. That way he could apologise to Bloom and officially ask her to be his date to the Princess Ball. Unfortunately that plan had gone off the rails when he stumbled across his friends taking bets on his parents and Brandon and Riven's level of intelligence.

"It's kinda hard to explain," Timmy brushed off as he took Riven's money and happily shoved it into his back pocket. "So what was this about a cook out?"

"Oh, I just thought we could go met the girls at the beach and have ourselves an impromptu beach party. They're over on the western shore."

"How did you find out?" Brandon asked.

"Brandon, I am going to be a senior at Red Fountain, the greatest school for heroics in the Magical Universe. After three years, reconnaissance and espionage are second nature to me," Sky informed his friends. They all then proceeded to stare blankly at him until he added, "I ran into Layla's roommate and she told me where they were."

Brandon grinned and then clapped his hands together loudly. "Well then, boys, we got ourselves a cook out to get to."

* * *

"You think we got everything?" Timmy asked, digging through the basket that held all the food they had just bought. In his hands he held a feast that would make any self-respecting teenager drool. They had enough ingredients for a burger with the works and various other forms of junk food such as marshmallows and potato chips. And just in case the girls had a go at them for not bringing anything 'good' for them they also bought some pre-made salads. It probably would have been cheaper to buy the vegetables and created the salad themselves but none of the boys were willing to spend time putting together a salad they never planned to eat.

"I'm sure the girls will be thrilled with what we've got," Helia assured him as the five specialists slowly made their way from the car park where they had left their levi bikes down to the beach where the girls were meant to be.

"Besides, we're being spontaneous. How can they complain about that?" Brandon added as they hit the beach. Their shoes sunk slightly in the sand with each step, but they quickly managed to alter their strides to match the uneven and ever shifting terrain.

Sky's recon on the girls whereabouts proved to be correct, but none of the girls seemed to notice the boys arrival since they were listening intently to Stella go on about something whilst enjoying lounging on the sand. Even though he had been so eager to meet up with the girls, Sky started to dawdle and lag behind the rest of his friends. He didn't know if Bloom was still upset with him after the fight they had had earlier and although he hoped to make things right between them again, Sky also knew that there was a possibility that Bloom wouldn't even want to speak to him, let alone reconcile.

Regardless, the Last Princess of Sparx sounded like her usual, happy self when the heroes drew near enough to overhear her say, "Stell, you're having a Princess Ball, your parents are getting back together and we're on semester break. What could be better than this?"

"Maybe if some Red Fountain guys were here," Brandon – who knew an entrance when he heard one – suggested with a dramatic bow. All his friends were standing alongside him, matching his wide smile – or smirk, in Riven's case – except for Sky who was nervously hiding behind them for some reason. However Brandon wasn't paying much attention to his best friend and Prince. All his attention was now centred on the glowing, honey-gold eyes of his girlfriend and the fantastic way they lit up when she saw him.

"Brandon!" Stella squealed, utterly thrilled with his spontaneous arrival. "Snookums!"

And she wasn't the only one who was delighted with the boys' appearance. After a year of confusion on where exactly their relationship stood, Tecna and Timmy had finally got it together and officially became a couple. There were still times where the two geniuses got embarrassed by public displays of affection, but there was no hesitation in Tecna's turquoise eyes when she gazed adoringly at Timmy. "Hello Timmy."

"Hey!" Timmy grinned back as Tecna ran over to him and threw herself into his outstretched arms. Pulling her into a tight embrace, Timmy breathed deep so he could take in her familiar scent. He had been completely enamoured with this fairy ever since he had first met her at the start of year mixer Alfea had hosted two years ago and it felt great to officially know that she was his and only his.

"Hi Helia!" Flora cried, launching herself at her boyfriend who laughed loudly when she nearly tackled him to the ground. It was hard to imagine that this was the same girl who only a matter of weeks ago was so nervous around him that she'd regularly became tongue-tied. Ever since prom, however, the normally shy and placid flower fairy had quickly gotten comfortable in their relationship and wasn't afraid to display it in public.

On the other hand, one couple that was still working out the kinks in their relationship was Musa and Riven. Even though they were now officially classed as boyfriend and girlfriend, they still felt it was necessary to continue with their silly, flirty games and the latest one left Riven completely speechless. Without any warning whatsoever, Musa had changed her hair and the end result had Riven utterly floored. Her dark, silky hair had been spelled so that even with it bunched up in her usual pigtails, it reached down to her waist and appeared slightly thicker than it was before. Now, Riven had no problem with how her hair looked before – he actually found her pigtails to be rather adorable – but there was no denying that the fairy's new style made her looked fantastic. Her hair style before made her look like the spunky teenager they all knew she was, but her new look gave her a more mature, feminine appearance, like a young fairy who was ready to enter the world of adulthood.

And Riven _liked_ it.

"Hey Brandon, hey Helia, hey Timmy," Musa greeted all his friends, smirking at the look of Riven's face as she walked passed him. In a purposely offhanded manner, Musa let her newly lengthened hair flick him in the face as she continued to ignore him.

"Er . . ." Riven grunted stupidly before snapping out of his trance. If she was going to play it cool, then he was going to play it hot. Following after her, Riven quickly snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his front. "_Love_ your hair," Riven growled in her ear softly, his voice deep and rocky. He smirked when he felt Musa shiver in his arms, but the musical fairy managed to keep her cool and slid out his grasp. Her eyes, however, were glowing with delight when she turned to grin wordlessly back at him.

* * *

Although he would adamantly deny that he was hiding, Sky had to admit to himself that the level of anxiety he was feeling regarding seeing Bloom increased the second Riven moved after Musa, leaving the Prince utterly exposed and in the plain sight of his girlfriend. Sky tried to project a calm appearance, but the truth of the matter was that he was nervous about how Bloom would react after the fight they had experienced that morning. However all that dissolved when Bloom's blue eyes locked on his and a huge smile spread across her face.

"Ah, Sky! I thought you went back to Eraklyon," Bloom said, running over to him and taking his hand in hers.

"I got Stella's invitation mid-flight and turned around," Sky explained to her. Part of him wanted to get down on his knees and beg her forgiveness for the horrible things he said earlier, but he figured it would be a good idea to try and gauge her mood a little bit more first. "I wouldn't miss a chance to take you to a Princess Ball for anything in the world, Bloom."

Bloom smiled at his comment, but it didn't reach her eyes. Clearly, she was feeling just as awful about the fight as he was. "I'm sorry that we fought before."

"Me too," Sky said, before reaching over to cup the side of her face in the palm of his right hand. "I love you, Bloom."

The tenderness in Bloom's eyes was the only reply Sky needed.

"We brought stuff for a cookout," Timmy announced to the girls, holding up the basket of food they had brought. "Burgers and marshmallows."

"And music," Riven added, turning on the boom box than Brandon had suggested they bring. All the girls seemed pleased with the guys' plans for lunch. Or at least, most of them did.

"Something is wrong," Layla told them all, her voice serious and her face hard.

"Yeah, I know," Riven grumbled with a slight roll of his eyes. He hadn't noticed Layla's tone and just assumed that she was being annoying just so she could find something wrong with a plan that was created without any female input. "I should change the station."

"No, I mean something is wrong with the ocean."

Everyone blinked and then turned their attention to the water in front of them. Magix was a city lucky enough to be blessed with a stunning beach line so it took the group a second before they noticed that what was happening in front of them wasn't what they were used to seeing. The water was still its usual striking azure, but instead of looking cool and inviting, it bubbled and steamed as it reached temperatures usually only found in a bathtub. The sunny weather had drawn a fairly large crowd to the waterside and that crowd was quickly becoming panicked as the water started to scold their skin. However, despite the obvious danger they were in, the people seemed frozen where they stood . . .

. . . which left them completely vulnerable in the wake of the tsunami-like tidal wave that rose up before them.

"Everybody! Quick!" Bloom suddenly screamed, snapping everyone out of their shocked state. "Get out of the water!"

"If that wave hits the shore with that momentum, it could wash through half the City," Tecna quickly noted. While Magix might not have the population like other major realms like Eraklyon, Solaria or Zenith, it was still home to several thousand people, a vast majority of which lived within the City limits.

"We've gotta stop it!" Musa shouted, looking back over her shoulder at the crowds that often flocked to the cafes on the western shore on sunny summer days like it was today. If that wave swept passed the beach then scores of people were in danger.

"Come on girls! Let's go!" Bloom rallied. In a flash of multicoloured light, the six fairies transformed into their winx forms and took to the skies. "Let's try to hold the wave back!"

A rainbow of colour shot out from the line of fairies, smashing into the wave and stopping it in its tracks. It still loomed above the people below, but each second that they held it back, its momentum slowed, meaning that the damage it would cause when they finally released it lessened. And it also gave the boys a chance to do what heroes do best; save people who are too stupid to save themselves.

"Guys! Let's get everyone out of the water!" Sky ordered, running out into the shallows. The warm water was a shocking change from the cool water he was used to feel whenever he was at this beach, but he and his friends charged on regardless.

"I got you. I got you," Brandon assured a teenage girl a few years his junior as he helped her out of the water. When the wave had reared up, the pull of the current had dragged her under and she was sinking just as Brandon grabbed her. The girls red hair covered her face and she was coughing as he led her back onto the beach, but at least she was breathing. "You're all right."

"I-I-I . . . An . . ." the girl bubbled incoherently before she coughed up a mouthful of salt water.

"_Shh_," Brandon cooed, rubbing the girl's back as she continued to cough. Glancing up, Brandon watched as Riven dropping a little girl down in front of her 'Mommy' while Helia and Timmy help two other people out of the water.

"Okay, everyone's out!" Sky reported to the Winx Club.

"Let it go!" Bloom told her friends, whom were all struggling to maintain the level of magic needed to hold the wave back. Fortunately they had managed to hold it back long enough so that when the wave crashed it wouldn't spread any further than the beach. However the water was still extremely dangerous.

"This just re-enforces my dislike of swimming," Riven, who wasn't a particularly strong swimmer, commented as he pulled his now drenched shirt up over his head.

"I'm just glad we got everyone out of there," Brandon said, but no sooner had those words left his lips than a shout was heard over the sound of the collapsing wave.

"Help me!" the small, feminine voice called. None of the boys were able to spot the person in trouble from their place on the ground so it was up to the girls with their wings to try and locate the girl from the air.

"Oh no! Over there!" Bloom pointed, finally spotting the girl in the churning waves. "There's a little girl!"

"I'm on it!" Layla shouted and without seeming to ever think about it, she dropped from the sky and dived into the water. Resurfacing not far from the little girl, the Princess of Tides cut through the water with a few powerful strokes to reach her. Holding her tightly in her arms, Layla flew up to hover above the crest of the wave that was curling in on its self as it started to crash. Using her magic, Layla manipulated water molecules until it resembled a neon pink surfboard. As soon as it was fully formed, she placed both feet on it and managed to balance herself perfectly despite the girl still in her arms. "Just hold on tight."

"She's not going to try and ride that thing out, is she?" Timmy asked, his eyes wide behind his glasses.

"I wouldn't put it passed her," Sky said, remembering the time when she had gone off a kicker whilst boarding down a mountain on a large piece of bark. Almost casually, Layla rode the wave down and let it carry her right up to the beach, where a cheering crowd was waiting for her.

"I think Layla's got herself an admirer," Brandon commented, seeing the way the little girl beamed up at the aquatic fairy. By now the two boys had followed Riven's lead and removed their shirts that had gotten soaked when they had run into the surf. "Hey, are your shoes full of water too?"

"Yes," Sky muttered as he rung his shirt out. "Well, I must say that was . . . refreshing."

"That waves appearance was an anomaly," Tecna noted, looking out at the water, which was now unnervingly flat.

"A big time anomaly," Timmy agreed, scratching his chin. Compared to how churned up the water had been a second ago, it was now back to its usual picturesque state. The water was no longer boiling and the waves were back to a peaceful rolling lull. Unless they had witnessed it themselves, no one would have believed that there has almost been a tsunami.

"What do you think caused it?" Bloom asked.

"I'm pretty sure it was from a dimensional shockwave and that means something terrible has happened to the heart of all oceans," Layla informed them all solemnly, and with good reason since heart of all oceans was her home realm, Tides.

"Hey look! What's that?" Flora asked, pointing out at the water. Everyone looked up quickly, almost expecting to see another giant wave building, but instead all they saw was a strange pillar of blue light forming in the water. Things became even stranger when a mermaid suddenly materialised in the centre of the light. Magix may have an abundance of mystical and magical creatures, but mermaids were not one of them which meant that the pillar of light could only be one thing; an inter-dimensional portal from Tides.

The mermaid was rather pretty, in a weird, aquatic way. Her platinum blonde hair was braided and her eyes were a startling bright shade of blue. On her back was a delicate looking set of wings, which classified her as a mermaid from Tides since out of all the tribes of merpeople in the Magical Universe only they had the ability of flight. And, of course, instead of legs she had a long, blue tail that could propel her through the water at incredible speeds.

"Princess Layla," the mermaid said in a light, airy voice.

"Cyrine!" Layla called back. "I'm right over here!"

"They said to tell you, codeword; sandbar."

"What does that mean?" Stella asked the question that everyone was thinking.

"My realm is in trouble," Layla answered simply. Her face was serious, but after knowing her for a year, the Winx Club and a few of the boys were able to see that under her collected outwards appearance, she was clearly distressed about something. "I have to go immediately."

"We'll come with you," Flora instantly volunteered.

"Yeah!" Musa agreed enthusiastically.

"Thanks," Layla smiled gratefully at her friends before continuing with, "but you can't. I have to go through the ocean and I have to go right now."

Before anyone could challenge her decision or even offer her a decent farewell, Layla ran into the water and after she got a few strides in, she dived under the surface to reach Cyrine. The mermaid dived down into the portal and after a quick wave to her friends Layla followed her. Whilst back on the beach, everyone was silent. Something was seriously in the Realm of Tides, one of the largest realms in the Magical Universe.

Also for the first time in a long time the members of the Winx Club were separated and completely helpless to aid their friend.

* * *

In the Realm of Tides, somewhere in a secluded part of the Sea of Andros, was one of the most breathtaking islands in the Magical Universe; Istari Island.

Located on one of Tides largest coral reefs, Istari Island had beaches of pristine, white sand that backed right onto a lush, tropical rainforest, which housed several rare species of tropical plants. Freshwater streams turned into waterfalls that filled the many lagoons hidden amongst the dense foliage. The Island had no large mammals to speak of, but it had a greater variety of native and purposely introduced species of birds than any aviary in the Universe. Given the large numbers of endangered flora and fauna – some of which were actually extinct in other parts of the Magical Universe – the Island was listed as a Universal Heritage site and it had been named as one of the top five most naturally beautiful locations in the Magical Universe.

Unfortunately, it was not open to the public. For generations Istari Island had belonged to the Gwaihir family, one of the most powerful and influential families in history.

As direct descendants of Rahadagast Gwaihir (5) – one of the five powerful wizards of the legendary Order of Five – members of the Gwaihir family had inherited a talent for magic and politics. Their net financial worth surpassed most royal treasuries and while there had been members of the family that had married into royalty, the Gwaihir's claimed independence from any particular realm, through whenever they did stepped into a political showdown they had a lot of sway. The family had mansions in virtually every inhabitable realm but their main place of residence was Istari Island. It wasn't just the beauty that attracted the Gwaihir's to the Island; it was its remoteness. As a powerful and well-known family, they had accumulated a fair number of enemies over the years. The only difference with the Gwaihir's was that the number of assassins that came after them surpassed most ruling royal families and with so many attempts on Gwaihir lives, the assassins had a frightening success rate in the past. In fact, they had been so successful that the once extensive family had now been reduced to only a few individuals.

It was because of their family history that the last few generations of Gwaihir's taken their security detail to the extremes. Istari Island's location had never been fully disclosed and it was off limits to anyone who hadn't gone through several, thorough security checks. The family had made an agreement with Tidenese government so that spaceships and planes – both commercial and military – were forbidden to fly over the Island at anytime and every member of the staff – even the maids and gardeners – had secret service training.

Special Agent Stokes was one staff member with a strange job title. She had of course been hired because of her secret service skills, but what set her apart from the other agents that worked for the Gwaihir's was her passion for literature and her ability to organise a large collections of texts. The Gwaihir's had a tendency to be scholars, so their mansion on Istari Island was set up much like a university, complete with a massive library that would usually require several staff members to organise. However, given the Gwaihir's concerns with security, the task of cataloguing and sorting the books, scrolls and tomes fell solely on Agent Stokes.

Gathering a pile of books in her hands, Agent Stokes slowly made her way down the rows of bookshelves, stopping occasionally to return a text to its allocated place in the library. She may have the training to take down a man more than twice her size, but the agent's true love had always been literature and the Gwaihir Library was her utopia, though it certainly wasn't without its oddities. As Agent Stokes returned one book to its place on the shelf, another one a few metres down the aisle magically pulled itself out and hovered in mid-air for a moment before it started floating away to another part of the library. The first time she had witnessed something like this in this library Agent Stokes had instantly jumped into a defensive stance, but she had now worked for the Gwaihir's long enough to know the source of the phenomenon.

"Oh you are kidding me," Agent Stokes grumbled, an irritated frown crossing her face. With a heavy sigh, Agent Stokes postponed putting the pile of books away and followed after the levitating tome.

The book led Agent Stokes down a set of stairs into the lower level of the library where it opened up to a cleared area with an elegant map of the Magical Universe etched into the surface of the polished stone floor. A dome window in the ceiling directly above allowed sunlight to stream inside and basking it up in the direct centre of the map was a young man, lying on his back with his hands folded behind his head. He was a handsome adolescent who was unfortunately far too young for Agent Stokes to consider romantically, but even though he was younger than her, she knew that he was much smarter than she was. In fact, he was currently proving it by reading from three books at once as they hovered open magically over his head and they were soon to be joined by the book Agent Stokes was following.

"You know, this is exactly how my library gets out of order," Agent Stokes informed the young man in a firm tone, coming to a stop next to his head so she could glare down at him effectively.

"Last time I checked, Stokes, this library belonged to my family, not you," the teen replied, his indigo eyes still on the texts above him.

"Well, last time I checked, Gwaihir, your family pays me a lot to manage this library and sometimes that means stopping unruly children from trashing the place," Agent Stokes pointed out. Normally she would never speak to her employer in such a way, but she and the young Gwaihir had a unique relationship, which had gotten more informal the longer Agent Stokes worked for them.

For the first time since she approached him, the young man looked away from his texts to meet Agent Stokes's steely eyes. The inevitable staring match ensued and though it was the young man who shifted his gaze first, it was hard to determine who won because a sly smile spread across his face before he said, "You probably should have reconsidered wearing a skirt today."

"Nabu!" Agent Stokes shrieked, jumping backwards while simultaneously pressing her skirt down. "I don't know where the media gets the idea that you're a respectable, amiable gentleman!"

"I have a good PR staff," Nabu said dryly.

"I don't care how good your PR staff is, if you keep messing up my library I'm not going let you back in here again," Agent Stokes snapped, glaring down at the only heir to the Gwaihir fortune. When Nabu continued to just smirk up at her, Agent Stokes let forth a frustrated little growl and snatched one of the books he was reading out of the air. Turning on heel, Agent Stokes stomped off, her heels clicking loudly on the polished stone floor. "You are absolutely impossible sometimes!"

As quick as a snake, Nabu sat upright with his right hand stretched out in front of him. Harnessing the energy that followed through Agent Stokes's body, Nabu caused her to freeze in her tracks. With her body now under his control, Nabu slowly levitated the agent into the air, smirking the whole time. "Now Stokes, you know I only tease because I care."

"Sometimes – to put it simply – I absolutely hate your stinking guts (6)," Agent Stokes growled as Nabu turned her around so that she was facing him. Dropping his smirk, Nabu slipped into an expression that always got him out of trouble with the librarian whenever he pushed her a little too far; the puppy dog pout.

"You hate me?" he asked in a slightly wavering voice. His indigo eyes were wide and shinny as he looked up into Agent Stokes's narrowed eyes. She kept up her glare as long as she could, but her resolve was helpless in the wake of his open, pouting face.

"One of these days I _am_ going to learn how to stay angry at you," Agent Stokes vowed as he slowly lowered her feet back onto the ground and released her body from his hold.

"Yeah right. And that'll be the day you learn how to say no to me too, huh?" Nabu predicted with a boyish grin as he got to his feet. Agent Stokes may be over ten years his senior and an employee of his family, but she was probably the closest thing he would ever have to a sibling of his own and he enjoyed nothing more than winding her up because he knew she'd retaliate just as hard.

"Exactly," Agent Stokes replied, waking over to him so she could pluck the remaining books out of the air and added them to pile she still had in her hands.

"Hey! I'm still reading those!" Nabu complained, following after her when she began to walk away with them. He was making a reach for one of them when Agent Stokes lashed out with one hand and seized him by the wrist. Using his weight and momentum against him, Agent Stokes easily flipped him so that he landed heavily on his back without letting any of the books in her hands so much as slip, reinstating that she wasn't just a librarian. "Ow."

"If you ask nicely, I _might_ let you keep one of them," Agent Stokes told him, knowing that it would start off another round of her power as librarian verse his power as her employer, but her playful smile dropped when Nabu's didn't respond to her baiting. Noticing the young wizards confused expression, Agent Stokes followed his eyes skywards just in time to see dark clouds with a sickly green tinge block out the sunlight that was streaming through the dome window in the ceiling. "What is that?"

"Something's not right," Nabu said softly, all jesting gone out of his voice. Before Agent Stokes could ask what he meant, the young Gwaihir jumped to his feet and bolted out of the library.

"Nabu!" Agent Stokes shouted, dropping the books she was holding and running after him. She may utterly despise him sometimes, but she still cared for Nabu like a brother so his safety would always be her first priority, regardless of what her job description was.

Agent Stokes found her charge the second she stepped outside because he had frozen as soon as he saw what was happening. The sky had become overcast with dark, green-tinted clouds that almost completely blocked out the sun. Strong winds had picked up, blowing through the trees that covered Istari Island so roughly that they bashed up against their neighbours, knocking braches off and snapping trunks in half. The screams of a countless number of birds filled the air as the wind ripped them from their perches but none of these things had caused Nabu to freeze on the spot; it was the ocean.

Normally the ocean that surrounded Istari Island was a beautiful, breathtaking shade of blue, but now it had changed into a sickly, contaminated looking colour somewhere between green, yellow and mud brown. Instead of hypnotic, rolling waves the ocean had changed into wild, churning waves that moved in all directions and in place of the usual sweet, salty smell, a foul odour now wafted onto the shore.

"What is that?" Agent Stokes whispered as her hand moved up to cover her lips in horror, but Nabu didn't have an answer for her.

Something was serious wrong in the Realm of Tides.

* * *

_(1) I'm betting that I'm not the only person who went to school with a girl like this_

_(2) I know that Diaspro's meant to be from the same realm as Sky but I've always had it in my head that she's from another realm that has strong political and trade connections of Eraklyon. It just seems to remove the impression that Sky was engaged to his sister_

_(3) Made the legal drinking age in Magix eighteen because, well, you write what you know. And sure, the biological and social arguments for raising the drinking age in Australia to twenty-one do make sense, but I don't think it's ever gonna happen_

_(4) I have issues with kebabs. I know people love them, but I'm not one of them _

_(5) Since there's not a lot of info about Nabu and I'm making him a major character instead of just a supporting one, I had to make a bunch of stuff up and given that he's a wizard I drew information from Tolkien. Any Ringers out there probably knows that Istari is the name of the order that the five wizards;__ Saruman, Gandalf and Rahadagast, plus the elusive Alatar and Pallando. Also, not meaning to be racist when I made Rahadagast the Brown as Nabu's ancestor, it just didn't want to make anything too obvious like Merlin. Might be worth mentioning that I wrote this ages before I saw Sylvester MaCoy's __eccentric portrayal of Rahadagast. And then finally Gwaihir is the name of the main eagle from the Hobbit. I kinda pictured Nabu belonging to a family a bit like the Kennedy's; elite and influential but also overshadowed by a rather tragic past_

_(6) That was a line out of the West Wing from a Josh and Donna interaction. I needed an OC for Nabu to interact with and I always loved Josh and Donna's working relationship where he's an arrogant jerk to her and even though Donna's aware of it and fights him on it from time to time, she still genuinely cares for him and his fiercely loyal _

_Okay, so the ball has officially started rolling but I'll say again that __this is a __**WORK IN PROGRESS**__ so don't be expecting updates to occur too close together. I'm going back in and re-sculpt a lot of what I've written because I feel my writing styles improved since I originally wrote these chapters. _

_Anyway, hope you all enjoyed what I've got so far. Cheers, tears. _


	2. Beauty is a Beast

_**A/N: **__Okay, so for the last chapter I received a review from __**snb4evs**__ and she asked if I would reconsider making this fic the last in this series and have a shot at season 4. Sorry babe, but no frickin' way. 4Kids got the pants sued off them by Yu-Gi-Oh so they couldn't afford to buy the rights to the fourth season and I'm not switching to another canon. Too many inconsistencies. Also, while this story concept is very structured in the sense that there are certain marks that have to be hit in each chapter, it can also work against me. I'll probably go into more detail once we reach the major stumbling block I found for this season, Episode Fourteen: Payback. Plus it means that I have a restricted say in how the story develops, which in the newer series of Winx Club has been a big negative to me. Some of their storylines have gotten a bit WTF? Not to mention I've already plotted out how I want this story to end and it doesn't match up with the fourth season. And finally it's too big of a project for me to consider taking on. I've got too many other responsibilities in other areas of my life that need attention. So sorry snb4evs and anyone else that was hoping I change my mind, but it's not happening. So if anyone else want to take a shot at it, got for it. _

_Now that that's out of the way, lets move to the next chapter. As always I've tried to catch as many grammatical errors as I could but I'm sure some slipped through. If you wanna point them out to me, I won't be offended and then I'll go back and fix them up. Heads up, Riven's a bit of an asshole at various points in this chapter, but he's a seventeen-year-old boy with emotional and intimacy problems so got figure. Also another warning, there's a whole family of OC's in this chapter, but I needed them and had fun with them so that's good enough for me._

* * *

**Chapter Two – Beauty is a Beast**

"Why is it that every time I go someplace where I need to look nice, one of my damn boots goes missing?!" Brandon ranted, lying face down on the floor of the dorm that he shared with Sky and Timmy. The squire's side of the room was trashed as a result of his search that had now led him to the point where he had literally crawled under his bed in an effort to find the missing boot. "Seriously, it's like my shoes have a conspiracy against me! It's like they want me to fail!"

"I'll make sure it goes down in the history books that your life was hindered by calculating footwear," Sky commented dryly, looking down at the legs that were stretched out from under the bed.

"You joke about it but it's really happening. My life will be dramatically altered because I'm walking through it with only one shoe on. Hey, do you think it's normal for a doughnut to be this solid?" Brandon asked, banging the rediscovered pastry on the floor and receiving a surprising _thunk_ in return. "Seriously, I think it's petrified."

"Er, Brandon," Sky started but his squire was off in his own little world where it was impossible to reach him.

"Look at this doughnut," Brandon said, throwing the stale doughnut out at his Prince's feet. "It's like a rock. Actually, I can't even remember the last time I had a doughnut in this room."

"Brandon."

"You're right, I'm getting distracted. I need to be focused. I can't allow theories of my shoe running off and leaving behind a stale doughnut to throw me off its trail distract me. Oh no. I am a hero of Red Fountain. I will _not_ be outfoxed by a piece of footwear. I'd sooner be strung up with shoelaces and left for dead than allow that happen."

"Brandon."

"_Where the hell is my boot?!" _

"Brandon!"

"What?" Brandon snapped, sliding out from under his bed to discover that Sky was standing over him with his missing boot in his hand. "Oh. Where was it?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Considering I just spent like fifteen minutes looking for it, no, I don't think I want to," Brandon grumbled, taking the boot out of his best friend's hand. The brunette stared at it in disgust for a moment before he threw it without looking in the general direction of his duffle bag while simultaneously wondering why he always lost things. Fortunately no matter what life threw at him, Brandon always bounced back. "I'm so excited about this party. Like yeah, I know there's gonna be an official bit that will probably bore the pants off of me but you should have seen Stella taking about it when we were walking back from the beach. She's really looking forward to this Ball and I hope everything works out with her parents. You remember how upset she was at the end of our freshmen year when she first found out that they were separating? If they got back together that would be like . . . the best present she could ever get. Shit! Do you think it'll outshine mine?"

"Brandon, she's gonna love your gift," Sky assured him. "If her parents are getting back together then of course she'll be ecstatic but knowing what you got her and what it symbolises in your family . . . Bran, it's going to mean so much to her."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"Thanks man," Brandon smiled up at his best friend. He was still a little bit anxious about giving Stella his gift considering what it meant to him but she was type of girl that was worth exposing his vulnerable side to, even if there was a small risk of it not working out the way he planned. With a shake of his head Brandon pushed those thoughts aside for a moment to focus on other matters. "Hey, did you contact the Eraklyon Embassy?"

"Yeah. We can crash there after the Ball finishes."

"Sweet. I love that you're a prince. It's like everywhere you go you supply transport and accommodation," Brandon said, scrambling to his feet and pulling out a spare pair of socks from his dresser. Once he had sniffed them and deemed them clean – or at least, clean enough – Brandon threw them onto the pile of clothes that was gathering in the vicinity of his duffle bag. He was in the process of digging out another pair of boxers when the door to the dorm open and Helia and Riven moseyed into his room. "Hey guys! I thought you two had already left for Vallisto."

"Without saying goodbye? Come now, that doesn't sound like something we would do," Riven smirked, leaning up against Timmy's desk and coming dangerously close to sitting on the keyboard of his squad mates precious computer. Fortunately Timmy had caught a flight back to his home realm the night before or else he probably would have tried to skewer Riven's backside with a pen.

"You mean that doesn't sound like something Helia would do," Sky corrected as he continued to pack his own bag to take to Solaria.

"Oh but I would?"

"Just let it go," Helia ordered his roommate before turning to address to two Eraklyians. "We'll have to leave in about ten or fifteen minutes if we want get to the spaceport on time. With the time difference we should arrive in Vallisto at about eleven a.m., so that gives us a day and a night there before we leave early the next morning to get to Solaria in time for Stella's Princess Ball."

"And you're picking Timmy up from Windox on your way through, right?" Sky checked.

"Yup. Got permission to use the family ship and everything, although why we even have that thing anymore eludes me. If my folks ever travel inter-realm the government or my mum's hospital usually provides the transport. Means that the ship just sits in the garage for most of the time."

"My, what hardships you must have suffered through growing up," Riven commented sarcastically, causing Brandon and Sky to freeze in their packing. It wasn't often that Riven alluded to his own childhood so they were never really sure how to react whenever he did, even if it was only very vaguely like he had done just now.

Fortunately, Helia knew that the best way to respond to these little displays was to act as if it wasn't a big deal. Hopefully, over time, this would encourage Riven to reveal more about his past. "Actually, to be perfectly honest I feel kinda bad about just touching base at home and then leaving again. It's like I'm a bad son or something."

"Dude, your dad is out of the realm on business and your mama's booked in to cut up some guy up in surgery the same day that Stella's Princess Ball is on. They're not gonna miss you," Riven reminded his roommate before turning to address Brandon. "You got mail, squire."

"And you didn't open it already?" Brandon asked, clearly shocked. After over three years of being in a squad with Riven the squire had pretty conformed to the reality that he would never have any privacy again.

"Helia wouldn't let me. Something about a federal law and respecting other peoples boundaries or some crap like that. I dunno, I wasn't really listening," Riven confessed offhandedly, tossing the small package he had carried in to his friend. Even though he had managed to restrain himself from opening it, the former thief was dying to know what was inside the package to the point where, even while it was in Brandon's hands, he was watching it like a cat would watch a bird. "You gonna open it?"

"I don't need to," Brandon smirked, having a pretty good idea what was going on in Riven's mind. A silence fell over the room and the longer it went on the more Riven began to itch. "This is killing you, isn't it?"

"Just open the damn thing!" Riven hissed, his impatience getting the better of him.

"I told you, I don't need to open it. I know what it is," Brandon said tucking the package carefully into his duffle bag. "I'm gonna go hit the vending machine and get some candy bars and potato chips for the flight to Solaria. Now, while I'm gone don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Smirking widely, Brandon slipped out of the room and headed down the corridor towards the nearest vending machine. Riven watched him leave, slowly counted to three in his mind before practically leaping at Brandon's unguarded duffle bag. However Helia was ready for him. The second Riven lunged, Helia's laser strings lashed out and leashed the red haired specialist well out of reach from Brandon's bag and, more importantly, the package that was tucked away in it.

"You just can't stand it, can you?" Helia sighed heavily. "You're worse than a cat."

"I just want to know what it is," Riven muttered, straining against the strings that held him. "And it's not like Brandon doesn't know that I go through his stuff. Hell, he was practically baiting me just now."

"That doesn't make it right," Helia scolded. "Riven, you need to learn boundaries. It doesn't matter if Brandon knows that you go through his stuff. You should respect his right to his own privacy."

"Dude, I lived in extremely close quarters with the guy for over a year. If there's something about Brandon that might be considered private, I know about it. Chances are he told me about it, despite the fact that I begged him not to," Riven said, shuttering at the mere thought of some of the personal things Brandon had told him about in the past.

Unfortunately Helia would not be swayed by such a weak argument. "I don't care. You're not allowed to open that package."

"But I just want to know," Riven whined and for a second it almost looked like he was pouting.

"I know what it is," Sky said smugly.

The Prince instantly had Riven's complete attention. "What is it?"

"Not saying but I can tell you that it's not a present for you."

"So it's a present, ay?" Riven pondered, his mind already clicking over. "Oh! It's a present for Stella because she's having this stupid Princess Ball, huh?"

"You should really consider becoming a detective with the way you put together the bleeding obvious," Helia commented dryly. Riven shot him a dirty look before turning back to stare long and hard at Brandon's duffle bag.

"But why didn't he just tell me it was a stupid present for his stupid girlfriend?" Riven wonder out loud to himself. "If I knew that I would have just left it alone."

"Because maybe it's not a stupid present. Maybe it's something more," Sky speculated, spiking Riven's interest. Sky knew that Riven wanted him to explain further and Riven knew that Sky wanted to tell him but for some reason they both looked at Helia for permission before they continued.

"Oh for crying out loud. You two are ridiculous. Okay, fine, this is how we're going to do this," Helia told them. "Riv, I'll let you go and Sky, you can gossip like the twelve-year-old girl that you really are but neither of you are going to open that package. That's Stella's present, got it?"

"Got it," Riven and Sky both agreed in unison. Helia gave them one last warning look and then retracted his laser strings.

"Okay, Brandon got Stella a special case that belonged to his mother," Sky explained with a gleeful expression on his face. "It's a magical case that's bigger on the inside that it is on the outside. It can be used to hold make-up or jewellery or whatever the girl wants. It's been in his family for years."

Riven stared at Sky for a long time, waiting for him to elaborate. "And? That's it?"

"You're missing the point entirely. It's been in his family for _years_," Sky repeated. "Generations even. Brandon got it off his mom who got it as a gift from his dad. Brandon's dad got it off Brandon's grandmother, who got it off of Brandon's grandfather who got it off his grandmother who – "

"I get the point," Riven interrupted.

"Do you?" Helia asked. The poet had instantly recognised what a gift like that must mean to the squire but he highly doubt that Riven had caught on. The former thief just wasn't sentimental like that.

"Yeah, Brandon's giving Stella some dusty, old relic," Riven replied, proving that Helia's suspicions were correct.

"Not quite," Sky told him. "It's a family heirloom that's kind of like a promise ring."

"What the hell's a promise ring? Is that that thing were teenagers buy rings to show that they're gonna stay a virgin until they get married? Because if it is then that ship has sailed for Stella and Brandon."

"A promise ring a symbol of commitment to a person until they're both ready to make a commitment," Sky tried to explain. Riven stared at him blankly for a few seconds and then looked to Helia for an explanation.

"It's like pre-engagement engagement ring," Helia put more simply.

"Engagement?" Riven repeated, some of the colour draining out of his face. He was willing to put up with Brandon's silly infatuation with Stella for the sake of their friendship but an engagement gift – even if it was a pre-engagement engagement gift – was starting to sound a little too serious for a guy who hadn't even graduated high school yet (1). It was highly likely that Riven was projecting his own commitment fears onto the situation but there was no way he was going to let Brandon go through with this without at least voicing his concerns.

"Riven, don't," Helia warned, seeing where Riven's thoughts were going. Riven gave him a slow, sideways look and then made a dash for the door. Helia tried to grab him again with his laser strings but with the skill of a thief Riven easily dodged them and escaped down the corridor. Cursing, Helia followed him to the door and shouted after him, "This is Brandon's decision!"

"I keep hoping that one day my friends will act their age but I'm always disappointed," Sky sighed forlornly. "I mean, we're going to be seniors. We're supposed to be setting an example for the grades below us and yet they act like primary school children. Sometimes I feel like a councillor at a camp for mentally deranged kids."

"I agree," Helia muttered as Riven returned with Brandon literally slung over his shoulder. The squire had his hands full of chips and candy and he had a bewildered expression on his face. Effortlessly, Riven dropped Brandon down onto his bed and then stood over him with his hands on his hips.

"What's this I hear about a pre-engagement engagement gift?" Riven demanded, stumbling over his words slightly but Brandon wasn't listening. He was too busy staring up at his friend in awe.

"God, man, you're really strong," Brandon said as if he was just realising it.

"Brandon!"

"Seriously. You manhandled me like I was a five-year-old. You should have seen it, Sky. I was standing there trying to figure out if I wanted salt 'n' vinegar or barbeque chips and then in charges Riv who throws me over his shoulder and carries me back here like a caveman. It was – "

"Shut up Brandon!" Riven snapped, causing Brandon to snap his mouth shut and sit up a little straighter. "Now I have put up with this silly little obsession you've had going on since freshmen year but I will not stand by and let you make the biggest mistake of your life. For gods sakes man, you've got your whole life ahead of you! Why would you commit yourself to something like this before you're even old enough to legally drink?! It's complete and utter insanity!"

Brandon stared at Riven for a beat before he looked over at Sky and asked, "What the hell is he going on about?"

"He found out about the gift you're giving Stella," Sky explained.

"You just couldn't keep it to yourself, huh?" Brandon grinned widely at his friend. Ninety percent of the time he could trust Sky to keep his mouth shut but there were some things that the Prince couldn't keep secret no matter how hard he tried.

"_En_," Sky shrugged. It wasn't like their friends weren't going to find out anyway. As soon as Stella opened her present everyone would know what it was and what it meant.

"Brandon, you cannot do this," Riven stressed again. His voice was tense and a pitch slightly higher than his usual tone, which told everyone in the room that he was getting a tad hysterical. "Listen, you can't – "

"Oh Rivie, Rivie, Riv. _Shhh_," Brandon cooed softly, standing up and reaching out so that he could rub Riven's bare arms in order to try and calm him down. Riven tensed, not sure if he wanted the contact, but he stood still and let Brandon continue. "I've already thought this through and I'm sorry but I'm not going to change my mind. Now don't worry, I'll still have time for you, my special little guy, but Stella's my girl. She's _the_ girl, Riv. I wanna spend the rest of my life with her. Sorry."

Riven's face had an expression one might wear when trying to hide the fact that they were in pain but he knew that no amount of arguing was going to change Brandon's mind so he let his shoulders drop in defeat. "Yeah, well, I still don't approve."

"I knew you wouldn't," Brandon grinned brightly, annoying Riven further. The burgundy haired specialist only just managed to suppress the urge to strangle the squire as he practically skipped over to his duffle bag.

"You're too young."

"And in love," Brandon sang in a way that he knew would irritate his friend further, stuffing his belonging into his duffle bag without sorting or folding them.

"_Argh_! I can't stand this!" Riven growled through gritted teeth. Turning on heel, Riven stormed towards the door. "C'mon Helia. If we screw around here any longer we're gonna miss our flight."

"Coming," Helia told him softly but he didn't follow after him right away. Instead, the poet looked over at Brandon and gave him a sympathetic smile. "He'll make a scene now but he'll get over it by the time of the party. I'll make sure of it."

"Thanks man," Brandon said with a small smile. The squire wasn't really expecting Riven's support on this but his objection still stung. Helia gave a quick nod and then followed after Riven.

"See you in Solaria," Sky called after him before adding to Brandon, "You know, I'm really glad Helia joined our squad. He's like our own personal people handler."

"Yeah, yeah, he's marvellous. So what do you want to do now?" Brandon asked, ready to move onto the next thing. He had managed to find both his boots, he was packed for Solaria – kind of – and he was looking for a way to pass time.

"Well we've got a day before we need to leave for Solaria," Sky noted. "We really should do something productive with our time."

"You thinking video games?" Brandon smirked.

"Hell yes," Sky grinned back.

* * *

"Hey guys," Timmy greeted warmly the following day, striding onto the spaceship. This was not a Red Fountain ship but rather a private ship that had originally belonged to Helia's father so he could commute to various realms for his political work. However, as Helia's father advanced in his career, it had become necessary for him to travel with a higher security detail so the ship had been left for Helia to use whenever he wanted. It was currently being used to transport Timmy, Riven and Helia to Solaria for Stella's Princess Ball. "How was Vallisto?"

"Artsy with an old fashion charm. Great food," Riven answered from his place lounging with his feet up on the ships console. Helia was sitting in the pilots seat, prepping the ship for take-off. "But you should see the size of Helia's place, Tim. It's obscene the way some people live."

"My house is not obscene," Helia objected, his eyes still on the control panel in front of him.

"You have five bathrooms but only three people in your family and half the time they're not even home," Riven pointed out.

"We have domestic staff."

"Yeah, that doesn't makes it any better," Riven _scoff_ed before looking back at Timmy who dumped his duffle bag in an empty chair before sinking into another one. "Why did you meet us at the spaceport? Don't you want me to know how many bathrooms and staff your family has?"

"We have no staff and only two bathrooms," Timmy told him. "Happy?"

"Very. See Helia? Only two bathrooms. That's a nice, modest number."

"Not really," Timmy disagreed as Helia started inching the ship forward for take-off. "I have two older sisters. _Two!_ Neither of you understand what that's like."

"How come I've never met your sisters?" Riven asked, twisting in his seat to get a better look at his friend. Timmy had always been willing to share stories about the hell his sisters had put him through in the past or the comedy of errors that usually took place whenever they got together with his aunts, uncles and cousins but none of Timmy's squad had ever actually met any of his relatives in the flesh. Hell, Riven hadn't even seen a recent picture of Timmy's sisters so he was a little intrigued by them for no other reason than to ruffle his squad mates feathers. "Are they hot?"

"I think you just answered your own question," Timmy said, referring to the first question that Riven had posed to him. "And before you spin up any ridiculous theories in that warped little mind of yours, no, I am not hiding _you_ from my family. I'm hiding my _family_ from you."

"Ah, don't want us to see what kind of gene pool you slithered out of?"

"Yeah, I'd rather keep that one a mystery," Timmy grinned as Helia broke out of Windox's atmosphere and settled into space, heading off on the bearing for Solaria. "Speaking of gene pools, what were Helia's folks like?"

"I only met his mother," Riven clarified quickly. "His dad was away with work but I saw photos and Helia looks nothing like him. Brown hair, glasses, broad shoulders instead of Helia's little chicken wings. If I was him I'd ask for a paternity test."

"I can hear you," Helia reminded his friends calmly but they just ignored him.

"Well he could be adopted," Timmy speculated as if Helia wasn't even there. "His family does have a lot of money what with his dad being a foreign minister and his mum being a specialist surgeon. They could easily afford any adoption costs."

"That they could but there is no way in hell that our Helia's adopted," Riven assured him. "The kid's a spitting image of his mama."

"I am older than you are," Helia pointed out, not liking the way Riven had called him 'kid'.

"So Helia takes after mum," Timmy mused, leaning back into his chair so he could try and picture a female version of the young pacifist that had recently joined their little group. "Like the same hair and eyes? Wow, that sounds . . . kinda freaky actually."

"You'd like this woman, Timmy," Riven told the younger teen confidently. "She's got bite, although I think that if you're going to marry a high ranking political figure you've gotta have some kind of debating skills. Plus she's a surgeon so she's super smart and a little bit arrogant but the best thing is her sarcasm. It's kinda like Helia's, only more. Although I have noticed that he's turned into a bigger smart ass than he was when we first met him."

"And I've noticed that my change in attitude started right about the time I moved in with you, roomie," Helia noted.

"See, that is exactly what I'm talking about."

"Oh shut up. I'm allowed to have attitude at you if I want. You're the one crushing on my mother."

"I'm not crushing on your mother," Riven instantly denied. "I like her but she still freaks me out."

Timmy blinked in confusion. "What? How?"

"I dunno. I can't really explain it but she kept looking at me and like . . . fiddling with my clothes or my hair for some reason. It was just . . . weird," Riven explained vaguely. Before Timmy could inform his orphaned friend that that was typical motherly behaviour, the ship suddenly lurched and then stilled. The lights died and a beat later the dim, emergency lights filled the cabin. The ships acceleration stopped and the artificial gravity switched off, meaning that both the ship and the passengers where both literally left floating through space.

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! What happened?" Helia asked no one in particular as he hit the controls, trying to get the engines back online. All his attempts weren't working and when that was coupled with his utter confusion and the fact that his long hair kept floating into his eyes thanks to the zero G, it resulted in the usually clam and collected specialist getting very flustered. "Timmy! Fix it. Please!"

"I'll check it out," Timmy assured him, taking Helia's place in front of the control panel. The A-grade student was only there for a moment before he realised the problem. "The engines have overheated and seized. Weren't you watching your engines temperature gauge?"

"Not really," Helia confessed. It had been a while since he had last piloted this ship and Helia had admittedly become somewhat complacent over the last few months since Timmy usually kept the squad ship running so reliably. In hindsight Helia probably should have completed a more thorough check than the one he had done before leaving Vallisto and payed closer attention to the gauges on the control panel. He hadn't even glanced at the temperature gauge so he hadn't even seen it rising.

"It's really hot. When was the last time checked the oil levels?"

"Um . . ." Helia trailed off.

Timmy looked up slowly so he could meet Helia's eyes. "You do check the oil, don't you?"

"Am I supposed to?" Helia asked (2). Timmy sighing heavily and running a hand through his hair in frustration was enough of an answer for him.

Riven, however, found it all to be very amusing. Looking quite relaxed as he floated in zero gravity with his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his face, the teen almost looked like he was lounging in a recliner. "And people say you're one of the best pilots in our grade."

Helia whipped his head around to glare at his roommate but its effectiveness was lessen somewhat when a large amount of his hair floated in front of his face in the process. Spluttering, Helia pushed his hair aside before say, "Yeah, _pilot_. What do I know about mechanics? Do look like a grease monkey to you?"

"No. Not with those fingernails."

"What's wrong with my fingernails?" Helia asked, looking at his hands.

"Well, for a start, they're too clean for a grease monkey."

"Guys, would you stop kidding around!" Timmy said firmly, trying to get his friends to realise how serious the situation they were in was. "We're stuck in the middle of space, our engines are fried and the only way of fixing them would involve a space walk, which a domestic ship like this isn't equipped for. We're stuck here."

"So we'll call space assistance and they'll send out one of their space mechanics to sort it out. S'all good," Riven shrugged casually.

"No, it's _not_ all good. This is the type of thing that they're going to have to take to a shop to fix. Okay? It's too hard and would take too long to fix on a space walk, especially since it's dealing with liquids. Not to mention the procedure would cost more than even Helia could afford," Timmy explained. "We're going to have to get this ship to a shop so a mechanic can look at it."

"Damn," Helia cursed and a silence fell over the group as they each weighed out their options. As Timmy had pointed out, a repair job in space was clearly out of the question, as was just abandoning the ship. They had emergency life-systems built into the ship, which meant that they would have light, oxygen and a basic level of heating for them to survive, but it was impractical for them to just sit around and wait for someone to stumbled across them. They needed to get someone to come out and tow away their ship so it could get fixed. And then there was the whole issue of paying for these unplanned expensive, which was never fun.

"Hey Tim, your daddy's a mechanic, ain't he?" Riven asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes," Timmy answered slowly, not sure if he liked where this was going.

"So why don't we take it to him to fix? We gotta go back to Windox anyway since it's the closest realm so why not drop in on your family and get us some mates rates?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Timmy started but Helia cut him off.

"I agree. If we're gonna get Timmy's dad to help us out we should pay him the price he deserves for the service," Helia stated as Timmy started to turn a little pink in the face.

"Guys, my dad's a mechanical engineer that builds and designs space ships for the military and massive private organisations," Timmy tried again and this time it was Riven who cut him off.

"Which means to him, fixing this hunk of junk would be like doing elementary school maths," Riven grinned. "He could totally do it."

"Come on, Tim," Helia rallied.

Timmy looked between his two friends slowly so that he could scrutinise them in an effort to figure out their true intensions. He didn't have to think very hard. "You just want to meet my family, don't you?"

"We just want to get the ship fixed," Helia assured him.

"Although having the chance to meet your family is a sliver lining for this shit storm of a situation," Riven added truthfully.

Sighing heavily, Timmy dragged a hand slowly down his face before reaching for the phone to call a towing service to take them back to his home. "I know I'm going to regret this."

* * *

"Hey guys!" Musa greeted loudly, skipping onto the squad ship with her long dark hair and her red dress swinging around her in such a way that it caused Sky to become somewhat hypnotised by the movement of it all. The Prince allowed himself to stare for a moment before he shook his head clear. "You ready to rock this Princess Ball?"

"Sorry we took so long to finish getting ready," Flora apologised as she and Tecna followed Musa onto the Red Fountain ship. "Thanks for waiting for us."

"Oh, it's no problem. We weren't waiting that long," Sky assured her while simultaneously elbowing Brandon, who was sleeping with his head on the ships control panel.

"I'm awake," Brandon told them as he jerked upright. After blinking the sleep out of his eyes and wiping the drool away from the corner of his mouth the squire was awake enough to notice the arrival of the girls and the outfits they were wearing. "Wow. You girls look great!"

"We know," Musa agreed with feigned haughtiness while Tecna and Flora both bushed modestly at Brandon's complement. "You boys don't scrub up that bad either."

"We know," Brandon mocked her, running his fingers through his hair dramatically.

"You're an idiot," Musa grinned, walking over to take her seat while Brandon and Sky started up the ship for take-off. "But you gotta promise me, Bran, that you'll make me laugh during the dull ceremonial parts of this Princess Ball. These traditional things can be such a drag sometimes."

"Sorry, Muse, but I'm gonna have to let you down on that one," Brandon informed her apologetically. "Normally I'd be the first to try and lighten up something like this – "

"I'll say," Sky muttered under his breath, recalling all the times Brandon had gotten him into trouble in the past because of the two of them goof-balling around during formal occasions.

" – but this is Stella's Princess Ball and my first trip to Solaria since we started dating," Brandon pointed out. "You only get one chance at a first impression and I don't want to screw this one up."

"Have you ever met Stella's parents before?" Tecna asked as the ship broke through Magix's atmosphere and they settled into the stillness of space.

"No but I've seen news footage of them."

"Oh, yeah, that's an excellent substitute," Sky muttered again.

"Would you stop doing that?!" Brandon growled at him.

"Doing what?" Sky asked, a look of pure innocence on his face.

"Undermining me with your constant muttering, that's what!"

"Wow, you seem kinda stressed," Musa noted.

"Of course I'm stressed!" Brandon exploded, startling everyone. "I'm going to my girlfriend's Princess Ball where I not only have to impress her parents but her realms entire royal court, I'm giving her a majorly important present that will make me look a fool if she rejects it, not to mention that Riv's not behind me on this one and I think that I've developed carpal tunnel syndrome from all those video games!"

The ship fell silent as Brandon gasped for air after his rant. Sky glanced at each of the girls before he dared to ask, "Feel better after getting all that off your chest?"

"Oh yeah," Brandon sighed in relief. "I should be able to hold it all together now. You know, provided that nothing goes wrong and screws up all my coolness."

"Is that what you're calling it," Sky grinned as his phone went off. Pulling it out of his pocket, Sky glanced at the caller ID before answering it. "Hey Timmy."

"Hey Bran," Musa said, leaning over the back of Brandon's chair and tapping him on the shoulder. "What did you get Stella for a present?"

"Oh no. I'm done dwelling on that," Brandon told her. "The more I think about it the more nervous I become so I'm just gonna put it out of my mind until the time comes when I gotta give it to her. I just gotta stay calm and everything will be fine."

"We got a problem," Sky informed them all, closing his phone.

"Oh no, no, no. I can _not_ handle a problem right now," Brandon confessed, trying to keep the hysteria out of his voice.

"Brandon, get a hold a hold of yourself!" Sky snapped, glaring at his squire. If the squire were any closer Sky would have been tempted to slap him.

"Sky, what's the problem?" Flora prompted, getting things back on the right track.

"Is Timmy and the others okay?" Tecna asked, her expression and tone worried.

"They're all fine," Sky quickly assured the three girls. "But Helia's spaceship just broke down and they're going to have to get a tow back to Windox to get it checked out. They're gonna try to get to Solaria on time but it's gonna be a bit ify."

"They're gonna miss it?" Flora asked, traces of disappointment appearing on her face.

"Bloody typical," Musa grumbled, folding her arms across her chest. "Riven will do just about anything to get out of dancing with me."

"For once I don't think this is Riven's fault," Sky told her. "Helia forgot to check the oil levels in his engine."

"Really?" Brandon asked brightly. Helia was so such smarter than he was in multiple areas of learning so Brandon really liked it whenever he screwed up like mere morals do.

"Yeah, Riven's already hassling him about."

"So now what? We go to the first Princess Ball I've ever been invited to stag?" Flora pondered, allowing herself to be a little bit selfish for once.

"Musa and I will be there," Tecna assured her friend, reaching over to place a supportive hand on Flora's shoulder.

"Yeah and now we can perv on the cute waiters without touchy boyfriends breathing down our necks," Musa grinned wickedly with a sly wink thrown in for good measure.

"Riven's not gonna be to pleased when he hears about that," Brandon muttered to Sky.

"Well then you better not tell him about it," Sky whispered back.

* * *

In contrary to popular belief, the Realm of Windox was not technically a wired realm.

Unlike the Realm of Zenith that was a man-made planet whose inhabitants specialised in technology, Windox was a naturally created planet whose citizens were a population of intellectuals. Generally speaking, all Windoxites had slightly higher level of intelligence based on the universal IQ testing system but each Windoxite was also gifted with one or more fields of intellectual brilliance. During their freshmen year, Timmy had best explained it all to his friends by describing one of his cousins; an absolute sod of an individual who had difficultly programming a microwave but who was apparently quite a remarkable entomologist. However since innovative thinking and cultivated technological advances tended to go hand-in-hand, it tended to be a universal misconception that Windox was a wired realm.

And even though both Helia and Riven were aware that Windox wasn't just a massive, technological city like Zenith they were still shocked to discover that Timmy's house was located in a semi-rural part of the realm. It wasn't rural enough to be considered a farm but it was still a couple steps away from suburbia. The family home was a large, double storied white house on a three acre block with a large shed at the back of the property where Timmy's dad worked on his ships and cars in his free time. The boys had had their broken down spaceship towed to a local garage not far from Timmy's home and then bummed a lift off some old guy who Timmy knew, though it was a bit unclear whether the old man knew who Timmy was.

"Thanks for the lift, Mr. Cunningham," Timmy said, shutting the door to Mr. Cunningham's car while Riven and Helia got out of the back seat wordlessly.

Mr. Cunningham smiled warmly. "Oh, it's my pleasure, Thomas. Say hi to your dad for me."

"I will," Timmy waved as Mr. Cunningham drove off.

"He seems nice," Helia commented politely.

"He is."

"He kept calling you Thomas," Riven pointed out.

"He means well. And look, if you gonna meet my family you're gonna have to get used to the idea that calling me by a completely different name might not be the weirdest thing you encounter today," Timmy warned his friends, pushing open the front gate and entering the property. The gate slammed shut behind them with a loud _bang_ and a second later, the sound of a dog barking excitedly filled the air. "Bojangles! C'mere boy!"

From around the side of the house, running at full tilt, a black and white border collie galloped towards the three boys, its tongue hanging out the side of its mouth and a big, doggy grin on its face. The dog, Bojangles, was moving so fast that Helia and Riven actually braced themselves for what they thought was to be an inevitable collision but Timmy's calm reaction to the speeding dog proved to be the correct response since the dog skidded to a stop just inches away from Timmy's shins. The dog must have been very well trained because instead of jumping up like most dogs do when they're excited, Bojangles sat at Timmy's feet, his eyes bright and his tail wagging madly.

"Hey buddy," Timmy cooed, bending down to rub the dog behind the ears. It had only been a few hours since he had last seen the family dog but Bojangles always greeted him with a barely contained level of excitement. "You miss me, mate?"

"Hey, if you got a dog and all this space, why didn't you take Lady when we had to find her a home last year?" Riven asked, referring to the cream coloured stray Sky had picked up off the streets in their sophomore year. Lady now had a home where she got utterly spoiled by Brandon's parents but from the looks of it she could have had a comfortable life with Timmy's parents too.

"Because my dad won't let us get anymore pets. C'mon," Timmy said, heading off towards the house with Bojangles trotting alongside him and staring up at his owner like he had hung the moon. "My mum specialises in animal studies and now she works as an onsite vet at a welfare centre, which is great except that she keeps wanting to bring home every animal she connects with. This place is an animal house without us adding Lady to the mix. Hey Pixie."

The tortoiseshell cat sitting in a patch of sun on the veranda squeaked a _meow_ as Timmy reached down to scratch her head. Pixie the cat blinked up at Helia and Riven before getting up and following after Bojangles and Timmy into the house. It was a large, spacious house with clean, white walls and polished floorboards. The furniture was worn and lived in but it had a homely charm that reflected rustic feel of the area. It wasn't as big as Helia's house but it felt more like a home than Helia's did even though it didn't have five bathrooms or house staff.

"Hello! Anyone home?" Timmy called, walking through the house to the kitchen area since it was highly likely that he would find someone lingering there. There was another cat – this one with a chocolate coat and golden eyes – sitting on the kitchen bench and he stared down at Bojangles with a look that could almost be described as distain.

"I can understand why your dad doesn't want any more pets," Helia noted, spotting two rabbits running free-range around the living room. Lining the walls of the living room and the hallway leading onto it were photos that depicted various moments of the family's past. Even at a distance Helia could make out pictures of a younger Timmy kitted out in his soccer – _football_, Timmy would have corrected if he could hear Helia's thoughts – gear or his racing suit from when he used to drive go-karts with his father until his mother put a stop to it after a crash landed him in the hospital. There were photos of Timmy with his sisters at the beach or at a park somewhere and they all spoke of a stable but stimulating childhood with a loving family life. A sly, sideways glance told Helia that Riven had noticed the same thing and there was a conspicuously blank expression on the face of the former thief.

"Oh that's not all of them. There's more outside," Timmy continued on, too distracted by the task of figuring out whether there were any other humans in the house besides them to notice his friends behaviour. "Mum! Dad! Kat! Oi! Where is everyone one?"

"Oh would you keep it down!" a voice upstairs hollered just as loudly as Timmy's voice had been. The sound of someone stamping across the floorboards above their heads reached the specialists' ears and then the stairs squeaked slightly as someone descended them. Bojangles' ears pricked up as a girl a few years older than Timmy and his friends materialised down the stairs. Her long, straight hair was dark brown and behind her glasses was a set of deep green eyes. She was pretty, though judging by the faded jeans and oversized jumper she was wearing, she wasn't the type of girl who put too much of an effort into her appearance. From Timmy's descriptions of his two older sisters, this one had to be the middle child of the family, Katarina, and she did not look too pleased to see her little brother. "I am trying to write an essay on the archaeological relevance the Standings Stones had on the dryad's calendar so I don't need your twerpy face butting in and ruining my concentration."

"You came all the way down here to tell me that?" Timmy asked sharply, causing Riven and Helia to quickly glance at each other. Back at Red Fountain, Timmy was usually the one trying to defuse any squabbling within his squad but when faced off against his sister, his hackles had risen faster than Riven's on a bad day. "If you need to concentrate so badly then all you had to do was answer me and I'd leave you alone. It's not like I'd want to spend time with you."

"Oh, you are such a rude little prick," Katarina snarled back. "You spend all year off at that stupid boarding school of yours and then you come back here and act like I'm the unbearable one? Piss off, dweeb. And what the hell are you doing back here so soon anyway? I had to suffer through mum practically giving you a farewell parade and then you're back after a couple of hours? What the hell? I thought you had some party to get to that is no doubt paid for by tax payers who would probably prefer that their money go to something worthwhile like public education or health care instead of celebrating some meaningless, pompous event."

"Quit going on like you have any idea what you're talking about. We all know that you only bring politics into arguments so that you can pretend to sound smarter than you actually are. And I didn't come just for the accolades or to spend more time with you and your winning personality, Kat. I'm only here because we need dad to take a look at the overheated engine on Helia's spaceship."

Katarina scowled at her little brother for a moment before turning her green eyes to Helia. "Don't you know you're supposed to check the oil levels regularly?"

"I do now," Helia replied, trying to keep the grimace off his face and an edge out of his tone.

Katarina sighed and made no effort to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. Moving into the kitchen, the young woman went about pouring herself a drink whilst continuing the conversation she was having with her little brother. "You do realise that your glorious return has triggered a chain reaction of horrific and catastrophic proportions."

"How so?" Timmy asked blankly, watching his sister with narrowed eyes.

"Mother dear has gotten clucky," Katarina informed him in a cynical sounding voice. "You see, your little hit and run visit was miraculously timed with a girls weekend away that Liz had planned months ago, which meant that she wasn't due back until the same day that you left. Today. But now, you're back and mother couldn't resist the thought of having all three of her little chicks back in the coop. I've been quite happy lapping up all the motherly affection she bestows on me in the absence of my two siblings but I think she misses the pleasant sounds of the three of us screaming at each other so she's jumped on the opportunity to host a traditional, family roast dinner."

"Mum's cooking?" Timmy gasped, a look likened to horror on his face. It wasn't that his mother was a bad cook, it was just that she didn't always give the food the attention it deserved resulting in various culinary catastrophes over the years.

"Again, you've missed the point entirely. The monster that is the first-born child of this family is returning and all you worry about is mums cooking? How is it that you got the highest GAR score in this family and yet you still miss the main problem in the most obvious of circumstances?"

"GAR?" Riven repeated, looking at Helia for some kind of explanation.

"Generalised Academic Result," Helia told him. "In Windox it's how they determine the academic level of middle school students without taking into account the individuals specialist field. It's basically so they can compare a Windoxite who excels in literature against a Windoxite who specialises in bio chemistry within the same context."

"So Timmy's a geek amongst geeks?"

"Well he's supposed to be but he can be a frickin' moron at times. Although honestly I'm surprised they have use for a super geek like you at a school that is normally dominated by meat head jocks," Katarina smirked wickedly at Timmy who frowned darkly back at her. Clearly this was a sore spot for Timmy that his sister liked to hit. She was almost purring as she sidled passed him and moved towards the stairs so she could get back to her schoolwork. "After all, aren't heroes meant to fight for justice with swords and shields, not computers and scientific equations?"

"Oh, you cow," Timmy hissed softly, glaring at Katarina as she climbed the stairs. Timmy waited until she was well and truly upstairs before his pulled out his pocket-sized tablet computer and linked it to a high tech looking device mounted on the kitchen. "I'll show you what computers and scientific equations can do."

"Timmy, what are you doing?" Riven asked, a little frightened by this vindictive side of his friend.

"Just wait for it," Timmy told him, his fingers flying across the keys. With a smirk he hit the enter key one last time and then straightened like he was waiting for something. Half a beat later, Katarina's horrified scream filled the air, followed by her footsteps as she bolted from her computer to the stairs.

"_What the hell did you do to my essay?!_" Katarina shrieked, her green eyes furious as she stormed back into the kitchen. Almost subconsciously, both Helia and Riven took a step backwards to put a little bit more distance between them and the enraged young woman but Timmy stood his ground, his arms folded across his chest and a smug grin on his face. "Give it back!"

"What are you gonna give me for it?" Timmy asked calmly, purposely antagonising his sister.

"I'll give you the beating of a lifetime if you don't give it back now," Katarina threatened, her voice low and deadly.

Timmy laughed. "You can't do anything to me. Your powers are useless inside the house."

Katarina then let out a wicked sounding laugh that would give the witch Icy a good run for her money. "Oh, little brother, did you fail to notice that while you've been gone, I've redecorated?"

"What?" Timmy asked, his bravo slipping slightly. Looking to where Katarina was pointing, he recoiled slightly and his face paled when he saw whatever it was his sister was treating him with. Riven and Helia looked as well but all they saw was a small table that had a landline phone, a bowl with some keys in it, a medium sized pot plant and some letters on it. However, it still made Timmy curse, "Ah, shit!"

It wasn't until the pot plant started to visibly vibrate that Helia and Riven understood exactly what was happening to trigger such an alarmed reaction from their friend. For half a second they theorised that perhaps Katarina's powers specialised in plants like Flora's did but as Katarina gathered her magic they realised that it was not the plant itself that had Timmy so worried; it was the soil it was buried in (3). Using her magic, Katarina levitated the plant and the soil up out of the pot and held it in the air for a second before sending it flying across the room to collect Timmy squarely in the chest. It hit him with enough force to actually knocked him off his feet and then continued to push him until it sent him flying out the open back door and crash in the backyard.

With a determined mask on her face, Katarina stormed after her brother while being trailed hesitantly by Helia and Riven. Kicking her house socks off, Katarina marched out onto the veranda and then jumped from the top step down to the bottom so that she was standing barefoot on the ground, ready to face off against Timmy, who had quickly scrambled to his feet. The two siblings glared each other down and Timmy felt a small tremor ripple through the ground beneath his feet as his sister gathered her power, ready for battle.

"Let's see if that school of yours has taught you anything new since the last time I fought you," Katarina said coldly before stomping her right foot so that her magic was sent into the ground as shock waves. In response to her magic, the soil and rock beneath Timmy's feet was suddenly thrust upwards in a column that lifted Timmy high into the air. Excepting the attack, Timmy stepped backwards and let himself fall off the column before landing effortlessly back on the ground. The column of rock then retracted itself back into the ground seamlessly. "Okay, not bad. Now let's see you do it double time."

In a sudden explosion, the ground in the backyard burst upwards as several rock columns speared up out at various angles. Some columns just shot upwards while others erupted on an exact collision course with another one. For any normal human a situation like this would be considered extremely dangerous but for a senior at Red Fountain this type of thing should be a walk in the park. Without even the slightest hint of panic, Timmy easily sidestepped his way over the rapidly shifting ground and calmly dodged getting crushed between colliding pillars of rock. Katarina doubled her efforts but she still wasn't able to hit her bother with any of her soil manipulation techniques. His reaction time was just that little bit faster than her magic.

From their place frozen on the back veranda, Helia and Riven watched with wide eyes and dropped jaws as the two siblings went head-to-head. Ever since freshmen year people had always questioned Timmy's decision to go to a school for heroics and bravery. Although he was smarter than anyone else in their grade and an irreplaceable part of his squad, his friends couldn't deny that Timmy probably would have been better off going to some esteemed school for technology. He would have taken to the work like a fish to water, would have probably graduated by now and gotten a job programming, no doubt making a small fortune while doing it. No one would really describe Timmy as being a warrior but as Helia and Riven watched Katarina try to annihilate him it suddenly became very clear that – given the right enemy – Timmy was a fighter.

"You're getting slow, sis," Timmy taunted, skilfully sliding down a rock column that had come out at a diagonal. "This is almost too easy."

"I'll show you easy, you little brat," Katarina growled, sticking out her right hand so that it was palm-side down. Lifting her hand a few inches higher, Katarina summoned a rock about the size of a human head up out of the depths of the ground and caused it to hover in the air. "Dodge this!"

With a flick of her wrist, the fairy sent the rock flying at her little brother in the same way that she had done with the pot plant in the house, only when it hit him this time it would most likely break bones.

"Shit!" Riven cursed as he watched helplessly as the rock shot towards his friend but without even blinking an eye, Timmy pulled out his bee kicker blaster. The spectacled specialist shot the rock in the direct centre so that the only thing that hit him was dust and small rock fragments that weren't even big enough to be called pebbles.

"Dodged it," Timmy informed Katarina, his gun hanging loosely in grasp and a smug look on his face. Katarina balled her hands into fists and narrowed her eyes dangerously for a moment before she quickly withdrew her magic and let the columns of rock slip back into the ground with a loud _bang_.

"All right, time to stop playing around," she growled, bringing her hands together in front of her face so that her fingers were pointing skywards and her palms were only a centimetre apart. Golden coloured magic swelled in her hands and chest before it travelled down her legs and seeped into the ground. Suddenly, Timmy looked worried.

"Kat, don't," Timmy told her, trying to keep the panic off his face. "Mum said you're not allowed to use that attack on me anymore. Kat, stop it. Kat!"

However his sister just ignored him and as soon as her powers were fully charged, she braced herself and ripped her hands apart so that she was standing with her arms spread wide. Simultaneously, a large crevasse appeared in the middle of the yard and it grew bigger the further Katarina spread her arms.

"Holy crap!" Riven gasped as he and Helia scrambled closer to the house which stood remarkably still considering all the shifting ground that was occurring beneath its foundations. From their safe position on the veranda, the two boys watched in horror as the ground beneath Timmy's feet slipped away and their friend fell down into the dark crevasse. As soon as he started to fall, Katarina brought her hands back together and closed the ground up around her little brother. A shocked silence fell over the yard, which now looked completely normal with no evidence of a fight ever occurred or that someone was currently buried underneath its surface.

"_Hn_," Katarina grunted softly to herself in congratulations but her smug look instantly dropped when a new voice called out.

"Katarina! What have I told you about burying your brother alive?" a woman who had to be Timmy's mother shouted as she stepped out of the backdoor onto the veranda. Her hair was a few shades blonder than Timmy's and her eyes were blue but it wasn't her physical appearance that caught Helia and Riven's attention. What held their focus were the two large rats that were perched on her shoulder or crawling down her arm. Timmy's mother, however, didn't even seem conscious of the rats on her as she continued to glare at her youngest daughter.

"But mum! He started it!" Katarina told her in a whining voice that made her sound like a six-year-old.

"And I'm finishing it. You unbury him right or so help me I'm kicking you out of the house and make you sleep in the chicken coop."

Katarina folded her arms across her chest, not believing her mothers threat. "You wouldn't make me sleep in a chicken coop."

"I did it to your sister before she moved out. What makes you think I won't do it to you?"

A stand off ensued between the mother and daughter and it wasn't long before Katarina buckled. Stomping her foot, she brought up another rock column and sitting atop it, looking utterly filthy, was Timmy who gulped up so much fresh air so quickly that he choked and stared to cough.

"You! Get inside and clean yourself up," Timmy's mother ordered, pointing at Timmy. "You! Fix this yard up. Honestly, how many times do I have to tell you not to tear up my yard?" she said to Katarina, who rolled her eyes and did as she was told. With one final hard look at her two children, the older woman then turned her attention to her two guests who both jumped slightly when her blue eyes locked on them. The stern looks she had been giving to Timmy and Katarina instantly dissolved into a warm, welcoming smile as she introduced herself to her son's classmates. "Hi. I'm Debbie. You must be Riven and Helia. It's a pleasure to finally put a face to the name."

"You seen photos of them," Timmy muttered under his breath as he rubbed his fingers through his hair in an effort to shake loose some of the dirt that had gathered there.

"The pleasure's all ours, Debbie," Helia responded respectfully. "And thank you so much for having us so unexpectedly."

Riven caught the look Helia sent him, telling him to say something. Unfortunately, Riven wasn't quite as graceful as Helia was with first impressions so he just blurted out the first thing that popped into his head. "Nice rats."

"Which ones? My children or these two?" Debbie asked with a sly grin, giving one of the rats a scratch on the head. "This is Gin and Tonic. Mummy's little helpers."

"She likes those rodents more than she likes us," Katarina commented dryly, walking across yard towards the house after she had finished putting everything back the way it was before the fight.

"They don't talk back," Debbie pointed out. "Now come on inside. I've got shopping to put away and Timmy you need to fix whatever you did to Kat's computer to make her bury you in the backyard. Helia, Riven, do you want anything to drink?"

"No thank you. I'm fine," Helia told her while Riven simply shook his head no.

"What about food? Are you boys' hungry? We'll be having a late lunch so do you want anything to snack on 'til then?"

"Mum, they said they're fine," Timmy told her, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at his mother's obsessive mothering.

"_Shush_ Tim. Let them answer on their own."

"We're fine Debbie," Helia assured her with a smile.

Debbie gave him a sceptical look before shifting her attention to Riven. "What about you, sweetheart? You look positively starved."

"What?" Riven blinked, not really understanding the comment or the term of endearment. There was nothing sweet about him.

"You're kidding me?" Timmy asked, giving his mother an odd look. While Riven was nowhere near overweight, compared to Timmy and Helia's lean build he was the biggest of the three of them. "How can you call him 'positively starved' when he's standing next to my scrawny ass?"

"Timmy, language, and he is skinny. Look how small his waist is," Debbie commented, moving closer so that she place her hands on either side of Riven's hips. Not used to someone invading his personal space like that, Riven instantly tried to back away from her but as quick as a snake, Debbie reached out and seized the waistline of his jeans and proceeded to pull on it so she could see for herself how loose his pants were on him. "See? He's far too skinny for someone as tall has he is."

"Mum! Would you get your hands out of his pants?" Katarina exclaimed on Timmy's behalf since her little bother looked too mortified to speak. "Gods, no wonder your eldest daughter turned out to be such a skank when you're here feeling up some high school boy like a cougar."

"Kat, don't call your sister a skank," Debbie scolded her daughter but she did release her hold on Riven's jeans. "And I was not feeling him up."

"Whatever you say, mum," Katarina muttered, following her mother into the kitchen and leaving behind three rather shell-shocked boys.

"What the hell just happened?" Riven gasped, feeling a bit like he had just been violated, which he guess he had been to some degree.

"I dunno but I just had a flashback to the times when my mum used to take me shopping for clothes and then barge into change rooms against my explicit orders not to," Timmy recalled before shuddering violently at the memories he was reliving.

Riven arched an eyebrow at Timmy strange reaction and then glanced over at Helia who was looking him over with an odd look on his face. "What are you looking at?"

"You know, you really do have a pretty skinny waist," Helia pointed out.

"Shut up."

"I think it's because your shoulders are so broad that it makes you look a little disproportionate."

"I said shut up, Helia."

"Timmy!" Katarina's voice suddenly hollered from the kitchen. "Get your ass in here and fix my essay!"

"What's the magic word?" Timmy shouted back but he was already moving towards the kitchen with his friends in tow.

"_Now!"_

"Would you two stop it, please?" Debbie snapped as she put away the groceries she had just brought into the house. "I'm serious. I don't want you two acting like this when your sister gets here."

"Oh please. When Liz gets here you know it's only going to get worse," Katarina reminded her.

"Yeah. Why'd you even invite her over if you know that the three of us are going to fight the whole time?" Timmy asked as he reversed the damage he had done to Katarina's essay.

"Because the only time I have all of my children home at once are during the holidays and at family reunions with your aunts, uncles and all their kids. And I am always too stressed out on those occasions to appreciate having my three babies around," Debbie told him in a firm but patronising tone that prompted both her children to roll their eyes. "Plus she has to come over anyway to pick up her car."

Timmy's interest peaked with almost wicked delight. "Liz did something to her car again? When did this happen? I only left like four hours ago."

"She dropped it off shortly after you left this morning," Debbie said, speaking in an overly careful manner in an effort not to appear like she wasn't making judgment against her eldest daughter. "Apparently there was a bit of an incident on her trip back from her weekend away."

The unbridled glee that flowed though Timmy's body at this new development caused him to almost turn iridescent. "What did she do this time?"

An evil looking grin spread across Katarina face. "Go ask dad. I don't wanna ruin the surprise."

"Is it that good?"

"It's that good."

* * *

It took about two hours to fly from Magix to Solaria with the turbo jets on full force but it still seemed like Brandon and his friends hadn't been travelling for very long before the Sunburnt Realm came into view. Solaria was such a dry realm that weather such as rain and snow never occurred naturally on the planet. The occasional ice storm occurred during the planets winter months but the realms main source of water was due to desalination of the oceans and an efficient water recycling system that many other draught affected realms used.

"Well girls, welcome to Solaria; home of the mythical Sun God, Zuko, and Solaria's Second Sun, the Magical Universe's most concentrated source of solar magic. Solaria's main exports include agriculture – in particular their beef industry – and solar based technologies," Sky informed them all as they broke through the planets atmosphere.

"Sometimes you forget that even with her couture outfits and designer shoes, Stella's a cowgirl underneath it all," Flora commented, looking out the window at the party guests below.

"Some cowgirl. She lives in a palace, not on a ranch," Musa pointed out, as Stella's massive palace came into view. It stood above the realms capital city and under the midday light it shone a stunning golden colour. Flying above it was the King's white doves and surrounding the city was a forest that was incredibly green, despite lack of rainfall in the area.

"Look at all the guests," Tecna gushed. She might select her clothing based on how fire proof and practical they were but even she couldn't help but get swept up in all the elegant ball gowns and dinner suits. "As Stella might say, they all look _fabulous_."

"Well then, girls, we better get down there and show them all up," Musa smirked. "Prince Sky, take us down."

"Yes ma'am," Sky saluted, before taking the ship in to make a nice, smooth landing. After shutting the engines off, the Prince opened the ships hatch and he and Brandon made their way out onto Solarian soil.

"All right, Princess Ball, here we come," Musa announced as she and the other girls made their way off the ship to join the boys. They were all still taking in their surroundings when a familiar red haired fairy started running over to them.

It was Tecna who spotted her first and the digital fairy greeted her with a warm smile and a "Hey."

Jerking his head in the direction Tecna was looking, Sky couldn't stop a wide smile from spreading across his face and a warm feeling gathered in his chest. The closest thing to a ball gown he had ever seen his girlfriend in was the skirt and top combination she had worn to the start of year mixer they had during her freshmen year. And although she had looked stunning then it couldn't compare to how elegant she looked now in her long, blue ball gown. Sky could easily picture presenting her to her parents and his royal court in a dress like that, though he would have to give her a few pointers on appropriate decorum to prevent her running at him like she was doing now.

"I'm so happy you're here!" Bloom exclaimed, throwing herself into Sky's awaiting arms and her enthusiasm was so infectious that Sky couldn't resist spinning her around him.

"I hope we're not late," he told her as she giggled loudly. With a wide smile on his face, Sky placed her feet gently back on the ground but he didn't let her go. "We got delayed at Alfea."

"Well it looks like it was worth it," Bloom said, looking over at Tecna, Musa and Flora. "Your dresses are totally beautiful."

"So where's Stella?" Brandon asked. He knew that the girls would want to gush over how each of them looked in their ball gowns but he was anxious to see only one fairy and she hadn't come to greet them. Not that Brandon really expected it. Stella had a lot to deal with today and he knew that she was going to have to make a grand entrance but he still would have liked a chance to see her before the Ball.

"You'll see her soon enough," Bloom assured him. "She's just inside getting a few last minute touches done on her make-up and hair but she looked absolutely gorgeous when I left her."

"But she looks that way all the time," Brandon pointed out, earning himself an '_awe_' from the girls. "So, is her Mom here?"

"I haven't seen her," Bloom admitted. "But you would not believe who is here; the dress thief."

"No!" Musa gasped in outrage.

"Who?" Sky asked, not following what the girls were going on about.

"A few days ago when Stella was dress shopping for her Princess Ball she found one she really liked but it was stolen right out from under her by this really mean girl from Beta Academy who earlier that day also tried to take a pizza we ordered," Flora explained.

"And the only reason that her and her friends got to the store first was because Stella and I stopped to help save some puppies that her magical temper tantrum put in danger in the first place," Bloom added, her blue eyes narrowing in distain for the dress thief.

"And now she's here at Stella's Princess Ball?" Tecna asked, also not very impressed with the news.

"Worse. Her name is Chimera and her mother is Countess Cassandra, a member of Solaria's royal court."

"You're kidding me?" Musa gasped.

"Poor Stella," Flora said softly. "To have to run into such an awful person like that . . ."

"And on the day of your Princess Ball, no less," Tecna added.

"She's all right, isn't she?" Brandon asked, looking at Bloom.

"She's perfectly fine," Bloom assured him. "I told her to focus on the positive and just forget about the negative. I have a feeling that she's really looking forward to her father's big announcement. The entire court is talking about it but no one can say for sure what it is."

"Well, I suggest that we all make our way inside," Sky suggested. "We don't want to miss the announcement and I don't think Stella will ever forgive us if we're not there for her big entrance."

"You're right," Bloom grinned, slipping her hand into Sky's and headed off towards the palace entrance with Sky dragging along behind her. "C'mon you guys!"

* * *

At the back of Timmy's property, passed the bird aviary, a small goat paddock, Bojangles toys and the free range chicken and ducks was a large shed that acted as both an impressive garage for any mechanical enthusiasts and a refuge for anyone born into Timmy's immediate family with a Y chromosome. The shed was large enough to house their Red Fountain squad ship so it had easily fit Helia's smaller spaceship that had been tow to Timmy's place for his dad to work on. Pinned on the walls were pictures and blueprints for an assortment of ships and tucked away in various corners and pockets of the shed were tools, the guts of engines, a few old trail bikes of various sizes and a few other grease covered objects that even Riven who had an understanding of mechanics – or at least he thought he did until he stepped into Timmy's shed – didn't recognise.

"Dad?" Timmy called, stepping over a couple cans of engine fluid. "You in here?"

"Yeah," a soft, distant sounding voice answered. It didn't sound much like Timmy's voice but the tone was definitely familiar; Helia and Riven heard it every time someone tried to speak to Timmy whenever he was engrossed in a computer program or a ships engine. "I'm here."

Following the voice led the three of them to a sleek, silver convertible with the hood up and staring at the cars engine was a man who didn't even look up when the three boys joined him. Katarina had inherited his dark hair and Timmy had his bad eyesight but apparently none of his children had inherited their fathers calm temperament. The man looked like a bomb could go off next to him and he wouldn't flinch. Though after the way Katarina and Timmy had attacked one another at the drop of a hat and the promise of more to come once Elizabeth joined the party, it would come to no surprise to discover that the man had spent years literally getting desensitised to bombs going off next to him.

"I'll get to looking at your ship as soon as I finish up with Liz's car but off what the mechanic who towed it here told me I'll probably won't be able to get it up and running until tomorrow," Timmy's father explained before quickly glancing up at the boys. "Which one of you is Helia?"

"I am," Helia replied hesitantly.

"You need to learn how to check your oil," Timmy's father said simply, leaning back over the cars engine to fiddle a little bit more with some intricate part. "Although I guess the ideal time for you to learn that would have been before all this happened, huh?"

"Ideally."

A small smile tugged at the corners of the older man's mouth. "Well, it could have been worse. I'm Jack by the way. Tim, can you get me a ten mil wrench?"

"Yeah," Timmy said, moving off to grab the tool his father had asked for. Sitting on the workbench, blinking up at Timmy with bright, green eyes was a cat with scruffy black hair. The cat started to _purr_ loudly when Timmy gave his head a quick rub. "Hey Luey."

"How many animals do you have?" Riven asked. Back at Red Fountain, Timmy had always been a bit hesitant around the large, magical creatures the stables had on offer but it was becoming clear that he was very comfortable around smaller, domesticated animals.

"Too many," Jack answered.

"We got Bo the dog, the three cats; Pixie, Luey and Mr. President, the rats, the rabbits, the goats; Snowy, Milly and Super Dude – shut up, I was eight – the chooks, the ducks and then the other flight bird that we keep in the aviary (4)," Timmy explained, handing his father the tool he had asked for. "And believe it or not that's less than what we had when I was a kid. The cow died a few years back and we had to get rid of the pigs when council changed the rules about keeping them near water runoff areas, which is stupid because we're ages away from the river."

"I was only allowed to have a turtle when I was a kid," Helia commented to no one in particular.

"What did Liz do to her car this time?" Timmy changed the subject. "Did she forget to put petrol in it again? Or put diesel in it, _again_?"

"If only it was that simple," Jack lamented.

"Oil?"

"No."

"You mean I'm not the only one who forgets to check my oil levels?" Helia asked, brightening at the thought that he wasn't alone in failure to keep a close eye on his oil gauge.

"I wouldn't get too excited. My sister isn't exactly the kind of person you want to associate your mechanical ability with," Timmy told him with a smug grin. "Did she forget the coolant?"

"Oh no, she remembered the coolant," Jack said as he straightened. "Unfortunately she thought we told her 'Kool-Aid' not cool-ant."

"You're _kidding?!_" Timmy exclaimed before he fell into uncontrollable hysterics.

"Huh?" Helia asked, looking at Riven. While Helia was a better pilot, Riven was a better mechanic.

"Coolant is an engine fluid that helps keep it from overheating. Kool-Aid is a type of cordial that's quite refreshing for a person but I assume does nothing for an engine," Riven explained.

"Well, that doesn't sound very good for the car."

"It wasn't," Jack assured him. "I practically had to put in a whole new engine for her."

"All of a sudden, my neglect of my spaceship doesn't look so bad," Helia grinned.

"Yeah but that doesn't mean we're going to rag on you any less," Riven told him. Helia looked as though he was going to respond to his roommate's comment but what ever he was going to say was cut off by a loud _squawk_, followed by a small green parrot flying into the shed and settling on the workbench that Timmy – who was still recovering from his bout of uncontrollable laughter – was leaning against. "Hey, isn't that that bird that Brandon got off Queen Amentia last year when she tried to marry him?"

"I have a name, punk," the bird _squawk_ed back. The parrot, Birdy, had been a royal messenger bird in the royal palace of Down Land in the Under Realm so he had an astounding level of intelligence and a vast vocabulary for a bird. Birdy had been assigned to Brandon's private quarters before the wedding and had developed a small bond with the squire in that time, so when Amentia decided to marry Sponsus instead the Queen had given Birdy to Brandon as an apology gift. Since Brandon really had no use for Birdy the parrot had been sent to live in Timmy's family aviary but apparently Birdy had forgone the aviary so that he could continue his role as a messenger bird. "Message from Kat to Timmy; S.M.F.O.S."

"S.M.F.O.S?" Helia repeated. "I take it that stands for something?"

"It's like an extended version of S.O.S. It stands for Save Me From Our Sister. Or sibling, if they were using it in reference to me," Timmy explained, scratching Birdy on the top of his green, feathered head. "It means that Liz is here."

"Tim, can you do your mother and I a favour; can you promise that you and Kat will try to get along with Liz? Just for today?" Jack asked his son. "Kat's already buried you once and you've obviously already done something to make her do that, so do you really need to add Liz and her mind games to that mix?"

"Dad, I've told you before; I'll promise to get along with my sisters as soon as you promise to stop the sun from rising tomorrow," Timmy told his father as he pushed off the workbench and headed for the door so that he could answer Katarina's cry for help.

Jack sighed heavily. "We're in for a long afternoon."

* * *

The second the three boys set foot inside Timmy's house, two things happened. First of all, they all heard the sound of someone new talking in the kitchen at a very fast rate and secondly an arm reached out and seized Timmy's wrist tightly.

"What the hell took you so long?" Katarina hissed, holding Timmy's wrist in a vice-like grip. "Liz has barely been here for ten minutes and I already can't take much more. She's already given me a financial breakdown of the outfit she's wearing and why it's justifiable to spend that much money on a god damn label and now she's just started outlining what foods are or aren't included in this new lifestyle diet she's following. Like I give a crap! I'm going frickin' postal here!"

"Katarina!" Timmy shouted, grabbing his sister's shoulders and shaking her slightly. "Get a hold of yourself. Now, we both know that the only way we're going to survive the next few hours with our sanity intact is if we pull ourselves together and focus on keeping her out of our heads. All right? We can't let her win. Not like this. So you need to get it together or we're not going to stand a chance."

Katarina stared at her bother for a moment before she regathered her wits and nodded. "You're right. You're right. Get it together, Kat. Gotta keep her out. I can do that. Okay, let's go."

"You gotta wonder what kind of a person Elizabeth is if she can unit the two of them against her," Helia said nervously to Riven as the two siblings made their way into the kitchen where Debbie and Elizabeth were talking. After a moment's hesitation, Helia and Riven followed after them.

"I dunno but . . . Wow," Riven gasped when he finally caught a glimpse of Timmy's eldest sister. "The rumours are true; behind every nerd there's a hot sister."

"Do you mind?" Timmy growled, glaring at his friends as they openly gawked at his sister.

While Katarina was pretty but didn't make an effort, Elizabeth was gorgeous and did make an effort. She had all the stereotypical aspects of beauty; long, blonde hair, big, blue eyes and golden tinged skin. Her make-up had been expertly applied and her wardrobe was tight fitting and made some of Stella's outfits look modest. Helia and Riven both knew they were staring but they just couldn't help it. They were used to seeing beautiful girls at Alfea but they were shocked to discover that someone at Red Fountain shared the same genetic material as a creature as stunning as Elizabeth. With a well-practiced flick of her hair, Timmy's eldest sister looked both guest over before her lips broke out into a wider, flirtatious grin.

"Tim, why didn't you ever tell me you had such cute friends?" Elizabeth asked coyly, before sliding gracefully over until she was standing directly in front of Helia and Riven. With a flutter of her long eyelashes, she extended a perfectly manicured hand to Riven. "I'm Liz, by the way."

"Riven," Riven responded, grinning back at her in a way that was parts dazed, parts intrigued. He normally didn't go for the blonde, princess type but damn, this girl had charm.

"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you. Timmy's told me all about his little friends but you know I never pictured you all to be so . . . _attractive_," Elizabeth confessed in a deep, alluring voice.

"They have girlfriends," Timmy informed her curtly, his unamused glare flicking between his sister and his friends. "And while I know you've ignored that little technicality in the past, I would appreciate if you tried to show just the slightest bit of restraint while they're here."

"Oh Tim, you're such a kidder," Elizabeth giggled girlishly at Riven and Helia but then she whipped around to face her brother and it was as if she had shifted into a completely different person. All her mesmerising charm slipped away, her eyes turned steely and her lips were pulled back into animalistic snarl. "I always knew you'd bring home a guy before a girl. I just didn't think you'd bag two of them, you little slut."

"Takes one to know one," Timmy shot back without the slightest hesitation.

"Hey, just because I can get attention from the opposite sex and you can't, doesn't make me a slut."

"Oh please," Katarina exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "You can't have a track record like yours and then plead innocent. Look at what you did with Dan Peterson."

"All right guys, cool it," Debbie warned, knowing where his argument would escalate to if she didn't intervene but her children just ignored her.

"Why do you always make it sound like I did some dirty, horrible thing with Dan Peterson?" Elizabeth asked, her plans to flirt with Timmy's two friends forgotten so that she could pick a fight with her two siblings. "All we did was make-out. Okay? That was it."

"It was two hours before he was going to get married!" Timmy pointed out.

"Yeah but we used to date so it doesn't count."

"What the kind of sense is that? I shutter to think of what your patients must be like if they're going to you to sort out their mental dramas. Even under the penalty of death I wouldn't use you as my psychiatrist."

"As if I'd agree to analyse your brain, computer nerd."

"Psycho creep."

"Dork!"

"Scrag!"

"Carrot top!"

"Big foot!"

Elizabeth gasped loudly at what was clearly a very personal insult to her – and one that only a little brother would know – before jumping right back into the name calling. "Oh, you good for nothing product of failed contraception!"

Riven and Helia exchanged uncomfortable looks. That was a bit of information that they could have gone without knowing about their friend. However the insult prompted Katarina to laugh loudly, causing Timmy to glare murderously at her.

"Stay out of this, history geek," Timmy ordered sharply.

"Shut up, techno dork," Katarina shot back.

"Nobody asked you, mud muncher," Elizabeth glared at her sister.

"Hey! Back off," Timmy hissed at Elizabeth.

"Shut up, you little weed."

"Yeah, I don't need you to stand up for me," Katarina told her brother sharply.

In an explosion of profanities and insults, the siblings then launched themselves into a three-way argument that was constantly shifting between attacking one sibling and then defending them against the other. It was impossible to really follow what one individual was shouting and with each passing second Riven and Helia grew more uncomfortable. Neither of them was used to this kind of family situation but it was clearly a common occurrence in Timmy's household judging by the way Debbie rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated _sigh_ at her squabbling offspring.

"All right, that's enough!" Debbie tried to shout over the noise but none of her children heard her. They were all too busying screaming at each other to notice. "Hey! That's enough! Elizabeth! Katarina! Timothy! Stop it! Hey! That's it._ Animosis transmosis!_"

There was a loud _crack_ and burst of light as the spell ripped through the kitchen. Helia and Riven both flinched at the noise and the flash but then they had to literately jump backwards and almost climb on top of the family dining table as the spell took affect. In the spot where Elizabeth had been standing there was now an elegant swan and in place of Katarina, a little brown weasel was crouched, blinking up at Debbie with its little, black eyes. However it was what happened to Timmy that had made Helia and Riven scrambled like they did because in his place a large, palomino stallion had suddenly materialised.

A swan and a weasel suddenly appearing in a kitchen might be strange but it was certainly nowhere near as awkward as having a full-grown horse just magic up out of nowhere. In horse form, Timmy's front legs and chest was only centimetres from the breakfast bar and there was no room for him to back up lest he walk right into a storage cabinet that held photos, a vase and several other knickknacks that looked breakable. His left side was closely flanked by the old dining table that Helia and Riven were now sitting on with their legs tucked up and on the right was the wall that had framed pictures that were at risked smashing to the ground if he brushed up against them. Completely boxed in, all Timmy could do was jerk his head upwards, flick his ears back and forward and snort irritably through his nostrils.

"Now, this is what we're going to do," Debbie said slowly, utterly convinced that she had her children's complete attention. "As soon as I'm turn you back, Timmy, you're going to take your friends out the back to put the two picnic tables together. We're going to be eating outside today since it'll be too crowded to have us all inside. Once you're done with that, you're going to help Liz set the table while Kat, you help me with the food. I want you to start off by making a salad and once you've finished that I'll give you new instructions. And we're going to do all this without trying to rip each other's throats out or so help me, I'll leave you in your animal forms for the rest of the afternoon. I don't care that you may have friends over or that you have a paper due or that you've got plans for tonight that you need to get ready for. I want us to act like a family that actually gets along with one another. Am I clear?"

As one, the three children-turned-animals answered her. Elizabeth let out a honk and ruffled her feathers, Katarina stood up on her back legs and made a chattering sound and Timmy breathed heavily while nodding his big, golden head. Clearly, the three of them had been turned into animals before and they had worked out a way to communicate without the power of speech.

"Good. _Reversious_," Debbie spelled and with another flash and _crack_ of magic the three animals turned back into humans who all shook themselves and, in the case of Elizabeth, quickly checked their make-up. "Now get to work."

"Riven, can you please give me a hand?" Elizabeth asked sweetly and before he even had a chance to reply, she slipped her arm into his and dragged him off towards the cupboards where the eating utensils were.

Timmy looked like he was going to snap at her but one hard look from his mother caused him to hold his tongue. Instead, he simply rolled his eyes before turning on heel and stomping towards the backyard. "C'mon Helia."

"Does that happen a lot?" Helia asked when he caught up with Timmy. "You know, the whole turning you guys into animals thing?"

"Yeah. It's mums way of giving us all a time out. We should move the tables over there," Timmy suggested, pointing to a shady part of the yard and with no need to discuss it any further, the two boys went about moving the picnic tables to said location. "Usually I don't mind but I hate it whenever she spells us inside the house. It's all right for Liz and Kat 'cause they're both small but I turn into a horse for crying out loud. I move an inch and I run the risk of trashing the place."

"Couldn't she turn you into something smaller, like a dog or something?"

"No, it's an automatic thing. Apparently if I were born an animal I'd be a horse while Kat would be a weasel and of course Liz would be a birdbrain that struts around like it's the most beautiful thing alive. I think it's like a personality thing," Timmy explained. "It's actually quite nice being a horse, provided of course you're outside. Once I accidentally on purpose gave Kat a black eye and I got spelled for a whole day as punishment. I didn't mind just standing out in a paddock all day, though I'm not particularly fond of the taste of grass."

"All of a sudden my family life doesn't seem that complicated and I'm related to sorcerers," Helia said. "Hey, do you think the fact that you get turned into a horse is the reason why the witches over at Cloud Tower call you Charlie Horse?"

"Maybe," Timmy shrugged, thinking of the nickname the students of Cloud Tower had given him when they were renaming their entire grade. "But how would they know about that?"

"Good point," Helia sighed, watching as Elizabeth and Riven made their way out of the house and over to the tables, their arms filled with table cloths, plates and cutlery. Riven looked slightly uncomfortable but Elizabeth was an alluring creature and her charm kept him following after her and doing whatever she said.

"You know Timmy, if you had told me how delightful your friends were I would have asked you to invite them over ages ago," Elizabeth said while smiling sweetly up at Riven and Riven couldn't help but grin back. "I'm gonna go and get some glasses and the water jug. For some reason I feel absolutely parched."

"Liz," Timmy hissed, disgusted at the way his sister was flirting so openly with his friend.

"Don't go anywhere," Elizabeth told Riven in a throaty voice, totally ignoring Timmy death glaring her.

"Kay," Riven grinned, watching her as she walked passed him and headed indoors. Still grinning, Riven turned back around and discovered that Timmy was currently glaring daggers at him. "What?"

"Can you not encourage her, please?" Timmy exclaimed, sounding more than a little bit flustered. "She's bad enough as it is without you making it easier. Honestly, I don't know what's worse; the fact that the two of you are flirting like that despite the fact that you both know you have a girlfriend or that the two of you are flirting like that despite the fact that you know she's my sister."

"Oh, c'mon Timster. We're not being serious," Riven assured him, utterly enjoying how worked up Timmy was getting over this. True, he would have never acted this way if Musa was around and he sure as hell would never follow through with any of his flirting but the reaction he got out of Timmy was too entertaining to pass up. "And besides, even you have to admit that your sister's a knockout."

"Riven, she's specialises in psychology. Do you understand what that means? She's a shrink. She's attracted to you because she wants crack your skull open and feed on the pink goo inside."

"So?" Riven grinned, purposely baiting his friend. He was seriously enjoying this.

Timmy, however, looked like he was going to give himself an aneurysm so Helia took pity on him and said, "She'll make you talk about your feelings."

Suddenly, Riven didn't look so keen on the idea of continuing his little game with Elizabeth, even if it did mean getting under Timmy's skin.

* * *

"Wow, check out Stella's crib," Musa gasped, spinning around so that she could get a good look at the palaces grand ballroom. Solaria was a slightly older realm compared to the Harmonic Nebular so Stella's palace was more traditional and grander than Musa's grandparents palace.

"It's all so elegant," Flora said in awe.

"Very elegant," Tecna agreed.

"And everyone looks so beautiful," Bloom added, looking around at all the other guests. She was so caught up with looking at other people's dresses that when Sky tugged on her hand she almost stumbled into him but Sky managed to steady her.

"But none of them are as beautiful as you, Princess," Sky whispered into her ear and the smile that she gave him was all the temptation he needed to bend down and kiss her softly.

"Yo guys, tune down the PDA, would ya?" Musa smirked.

"You're just jealous that your BF isn't here so you can have your own PDA," Bloom shot back as soon as she had pulled back from Sky.

"Riven and public displays of affection? Yeah right. Besides, now Tecna, Flora and I can go check out the hot Solarian boys," Musa winked. "Tec, Flo, come on."

"I suppose there's nothing wrong with a little boy browsing," Tecna said, a small smile spreading across her lips. The digital fairy was secure enough in her relationship with Timmy now that she felt comfortable joke around with Musa like this.

Flora, however, wasn't at that stage yet. "I don't know."

"Oh, come on, Flo," Bloom smiled softly, leaving Sky's side so she could follow after her friends. "Back on Earth, there was this girl that lived a few doors down from me who used to say 'It doesn't matter where you get your appetite, as long as you eat at home'."

"Bloom!" Flora gasped, her cheeks flushing brightly.

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that," Sky said firmly, giving his girlfriend a stern look.

"Oh Sky, why would I have to look at any other guy when I've got you here?" Bloom smiled back at him sweetly.

"Well, my boyfriend isn't here so I get to look all I want," Musa smirked, looking around the room at all the young men in suits. "I guess you could say that it's his own fault for not being here."

"I agree," Tecna nodded, matching Musa's sly grin.

"Well I don't," Flora muttered, clearly uncomfortable with the current conversation. She didn't want to look at other boys. Why would she when she had already found the perfect guy for her? If only he was here right now. "I can't believe that Helia's ship broke down."

"They might still make it," Bloom reminded her as Sky and Brandon got themselves a glass of champagne each. Grinning at each other, the two best friends tapped their glasses together to make a crisp _ching_ sound. They were still swallowing down their first sip when the trumpets sounded the royal fan fair, grabbing the rooms' attention. "Look."

Following Bloom's lead, the group looked up in time to see the curtains at the top of stairs that lead into the ballroom part, revealing Stella's father, King Radius. For a guy that had a daughter old enough to be a junior in high school, Radius was in pretty good shape. His ginger beard was neatly trimmed and his hair was brushed back behind his royal crown. The King's royal robes were made up of warm colours that reflected his family's connection to the sun provinces of his realm. Normally Stella's mother, who was from the lunar provinces, would have balanced him out but she was noticeably absent from his side.

"Welcome my friends and thank you all for coming today," King Radius greeted his guests warmly. "And it is with great happiness and joy that I give you the belle of the Ball, my Princess and yours, Stella!"

The curtains parted again and out of the darkness of the room behind her came Stella, shinning like a beacon of light that caused many in the audience to gasp audibly. The pink dress she was wearing glittered as the lights of the ballroom hit her and her long, blonde hair shone like spun gold. Brandon had always thought she was beautiful but looking at her now it dawned on him that – up until that moment – he had no idea what beautiful was.

"Whoa," Brandon gasped, his jaw dropping. He was so transfixed by his girlfriend that he didn't even notice that Sky reached across and pushed his mouth closed for him.

"Breathe man," Sky reminded his quietly.

"Wha?" Brandon asked stupidly. Shaking his head to try and clear his mind of the daze Stella's arrival had put on him, Brandon blinked and returned his attention back to his girlfriend as she descended the stairs on her fathers arm.

"Darling, I have another very important announcement that I want to make," King Radius was saying to her as they walked.

"Is this the surprise Dad?" Stella asked him.

"Yes and it's a lovely surprise," King Radius told her before turning to address the crowded ballroom in a louder voice. "My friends, I've got another announcement. This day is not only joyous because of Stella's Princess Ball but also because this kingdom will soon have a queen again."

"Huh?" Stella gasped, her honey gold eyes shining hopefully as she searched the room for her mother. However instead of her mother emerging out of the crowd to join Stella and her father, an older woman with pale blonde hair and a purple gown that even Brandon would describe as being slightly on the hideous side, joined the royal pair. Stella's hand slipped out of her father's grasp as she started at the woman in confusion.

"That's Countess Cassandra," Bloom whispered quickly to her friends.

"In one months time Countess Cassandra and I will be married," King Radius announced to the crowd, who all clapped and cheered at the news, though none of Stella's friends joined them. The Royal Household of Solaria had been in shambles ever since the King and Queen had announced their separation but now it looked things were going to change with King Radius's marriage to Countess Cassandra. The Countess had lost her first husband to a terminal illness and with his death she had inherited his land, title and his seat in the royal court. She was rather conservative so the people of Solaria saw her as someone who would reinstate strong family values back into the realm.

There was one person, however, who would never consider the engagement between King Radius and Countess Cassandra as a good thing, and that person was Stella. Brandon's heart broke as he watched his girlfriends face fall. She had been desperately hoping that her parents were going to get back together but this new revelation was making the chances of that ever happening become next to impossible. To her friends, Stella's despair was as obvious as her bright pink dress but this was her Princess Ball and she was standing in front of a room full of people she would one day govern over. She needed to keep up appearances.

"Congratulations Daddy," Stella told her father, trying to keep the anguish out of her voice but even though the other people in the room might believe she was happy about the news, her father was not so easily fooled.

"You don't sound happy, honey," King Radius noted, his voice heavy with concern. "What's the matter?"

"I'm happy," Stella assured him, walking away from him so she wouldn't have to lie any further. Brandon watched her flash forced smiles to other guests as she passed by them and it wasn't until she had joined the Winx Club that she let her true feelings show. "My life is over. Do you realise that horrible Chimera and her Countess mother are going to be my new family?"

"Hey, look on the bright side," Musa reminded her.

"There's a bright side?"

"Yeah, Chimera could have had ten sisters," Musa joked, trying desperately to cheer her friend up but her efforts crashed and burned.

"Excuse me if I don't laugh. I was hoping that my parents were going to get back together. But this? This is the worst thing my father could have done to me!" Stella ranted as loudly as she dared in a crowded ballroom. Storming away from her friends, Stella didn't even look up as she walked directly between Brandon and Sky.

"Huh?" Brandon grunted stupidly. He knew Stella was upset but he didn't expect her to just ignore him like that. Brandon was still trying to figure out if he should follow after her and try to comfort her or just let her be alone for a while when Sky shoved him roughly and pointed after Stella, ordering him silently to go after her. With Sky making up his mind for him, Brandon hurried after his girlfriend, pulling out his elegantly wrapped present for her. "Wait up, sweetie. I brought you a present."

Unfortunately, Stella really wasn't in the mood for presents at that moment.

"Thanks Brandon. I'll open it later," she told him, taking the present off him and then placing it on a serving platter that was being held by a nearby waiter. "Here."

Brandon watched in frustration as Stella walked off again and that frustration quickly shifted to irritation when the waiter went to pick the present up off the platter.

"Hey you! Give that back," Brandon growled, swiping the gift out from under the waiter's fingertips. His present to Stella meant a lot to him and Brandon wasn't just going to leave it in a pile for Stella to open at a later date without an explanation as to what it was and what it meant to him. After glaring at the waiter one last time for good measure, Brandon returned his gaze back to his girlfriend as she moved further away from him. She looked so upset and there was nothing he could do right now to change that. It would be inappropriate for him to tell Stella's father that his daughter did not approve of her future step-mother and he couldn't suggest to Stella that they sneak away from her own Princess Ball to give her a chance to calm down. His hands were figuratively tied and it left a sick feeling in his guts.

"Don't get upset," Flora said softly, placing her hand on the squire's shoulder. "Stella's just a little freaked out right now."

"I know," Brandon sighed heavily. "I just wish I could do something for her."

"We all do," Bloom said softly.

"But we can't. This is a family issue and although it might feel like we are, we are not a part of Stella's family," Tecna pointed out sadly, watching as Stella's father approaching his daughter as she stood alone, staring out one of the windows. The group of teenagers were too far away to hear what was being said but as Stella accepted her father's hand, the orchestra started up a tune.

Unfortunately no matter how cheerful it sounded, it would never lift Stella's spirits.

* * *

While Timmy's mother was a decent cook, she did have a tendency to get distracted by humans and animals that were in her home so when the smoke alarms sounded everyone knew that lunch would be served once the burnt bits had been scraped off. Soon, the picnic tables were weighed down with a large variety of food and the seven people were all sitting down ready to eat. Bojangles circled them, ready to pounce in case some foolish person happened to drop anything and Birdy was perched on Jack's shoulder, chattering nonsense to him. The rats, Gin and Tonic, crawled across the table to which Timmy shuttered at but everyone else ignored. Riven's enthusiasm to engage with Elizabeth's flirting had dampened somewhat but she still continued to brush up against him and flutter her eyelashes charmingly. Normally Timmy would have spent his whole time glaring at Elizabeth and trying to kick her under the table but then he had discovered that Katarina had taken a liking to Helia as they discuss some of Vallisto's ancient ruins and cities so Timmy had to divide his glares between his two sisters.

"You know I always wanted to see the city of Villette," Katarina confessed, running her fingers through her dark hair. "Maybe one day you could should me?"

"I swear to god, Kat, I'm gonna ship you off to a convent," Timmy muttered, just barely resisting the urge to pull his own hair out. "I anticipated this from Liz but I expected more from you."

"Well, we can't all be pure white virgins like you," Elizabeth shot at him before turning so she could caress Riven's bare arm. "Besides, being good is so overrated."

"Liz," Jack warned. He was a man of few words but when he did speak his children listened to him.

"I'm just kidding, Daddy."

"Sure you are."

"Speaking of pure white virgins, when are you going to bring Tecna home?" Katarina asked, abandoning her flirting with Helia so that she could put her brother on the hot seat.

"Yeah, not gonna happen," Timmy assured her. "I didn't even want to bring these two here. I'm not about to introduce Tecna into this madness any time soon. I'd rather not scare her off."

"Oh, we wouldn't scare her," Debbie told him, shovelling more food onto Riven's plate. She was still convinced that he was in need of a good feeding and there was nothing he or anyone else could say that would convince her otherwise. "You should really invite her over during semester break."

"I'm not sure that would be such a great idea," Riven said whilst trying to wordlessly convey to Debbie that he was content with the food he already had on his plate. "I mean, she freaked out with just Lady. How's she going to react to the zoo you've got going on here?"

"Yet another good point," Timmy agreed, delighted that Riven was no longer trying to get under his skin.

Unfortunately Riven hadn't finished yet. "What you should do is invite your family to Magix. That way they can meet _everyone_."

Debbie instantly brightened at the suggestion. "Oh, what a wonderful idea."

"I am going to kill you," Timmy told Riven in a low voice.

"Oh my god. Can you picture me in Magix?" Elizabeth asked with a flick of her blonde hair. "Stunning."

"The City of Magix is overrated," Katarina commented, pushing her salad around a bit with her fork.

"That's because when you went to Magix, you went to look at some rocks. I want to check out the stores, not some stupid stones."

"The stores are exactly the same as the ones in any other realm."

"Says the girl with no fashion sense. I mean, c'mon, those jeans you're wearing are so outdated."

"I like my jeans."

"You mean that Peter Taylor likes those jeans."

"Oh, are you and Pete back together?" Debbie asked Katarina, who instantly turned a bright shade of red.

"No. We were never dating to being with. We're just friends," Katarina stated, still blushing.

"Oh, like anyone believes that," Elizabeth laughed.

"Shut up, Liz," Katarina growled but Elizabeth took no heed.

"I mean, what kind of _friend_ do you let take pictures of you in – "

No one ever found out what the pictures were of because before Elizabeth could say another word Katarina let out a feral sounding scream and literally launched herself over the table to try to get her hands around her sister's neck. Helia and Riven both jumped at the sudden attack but Timmy and Jack both calmly lifted their plates out of the way and then resumed eating as soon as the danger had passed.

"Take it over there!" Debbie ordered sharply, pointing away from the table. Her two daughters only paused long enough to do as they were told and to transform into their winx forms but then they were right back at it. The ground beneath the table shuttered as Katarina started to summon up massive boulders from deep within the ground that Elizabeth shattered with her psychic abilities whenever her sister tried to hurl them at her. The rest of their family just ignored the two of them expect for Debbie who simply _sigh_ed before muttering, "Sometimes you just gotta let them get it out of their system."

"What's with their outfits?" Riven asked, studying the young women closely. Their transformation had a few of the characteristics he would consider normal for a fairy, such as the bright colours – a soft lilac for Elizabeth and an orangey-yellow colour for Katarina – and the very feminine cut but there were a few differences that he had never seen on the fairies at Alfea before. For starters, their wings were much bigger and had intricate designs and even jewels on them. They also lacked any footwear but their bare feet were covered in jewels, beads or leather straps and their hair style had become more complicated with small braids and twists done up in different styles. However the thing that stood out was the fact that their outfit showed a lot more skin than any winx form he had seen before. "None of Musa or her friend's transformations looks anything like that."

"Well, not yet they don't," Timmy said and when he got a confused look from Riven, he explained further. "Liz and Kat have achieved their Enchantix. It's the final form in a fairies magical journey and the one every fairy at Alfea tries to obtain before they graduate. The Enchantix gives them a massive power upgrade and also gives them the ability to miniaturise."

"Gods, fairies are worse than computers; every time you turn around they've got a new upgrade," Riven muttered, flinching when a piece of rock the size of his head crashed to the ground only a few metres away from where they were sitting. Both he and Helia exchanged nervous looks but Timmy and his parents remained perfectly calm as they ate their food.

"Um . . . should . . . should we move?" Helia asked, shifting uncomfortably in his seat at the loud _crack_ that sounded as one of Katarina's rock pillars slammed into one of Elizabeth's psychic shields.

"Why?" Timmy asked, as if there wasn't a massive magical battle happening on the other side of the yard. "Can you pass the gravy?"

* * *

"Is Stella's father even allowed to marry someone else?" Brandon asked Sky as they watched Stella and King Radius make their way to the centre of the dance floor. "I wasn't even aware that Stella's parents divorce had been finalised."

"I guess they managed to keep it out of the media," Sky speculated. "They must have really good PR staff."

Brandon glared at his Prince for a moment before returning his attention back to his girlfriend. "She looks so miserable and there's nothing I can do to help her."

"Yeah, I know. It sucks," Sky said in a distracted voice. Brandon glanced at Sky and noticed his friend was staring at Bloom as she stood with her friends to one side of the room. If he wasn't so caught up with worrying about Stella and her dramas, Brandon probably would have laughed at the expression of longing on Sky's face as he started at the redhead.

"Just go asked Bloom to dance already," Brandon ordered, managing to keep the bitterness out of his voice. Not matter how angry he was at the predicament King Radius had put Stella in, Brandon was determined not to take it out on his friend.

"What? No. I can't leave you alone. You're too upset at the moment."

"I'm not a child, Sky. I can keep it together without having you baby-sit me," Brandon responded tensely. Besides, he had his own agenda for sending Sky away. "Now do me a favour; go asked Bloom to dance and while you're out there try and eavesdrop in on Stella and her father."

Sky hesitated. The Prince knew that while there was some legitimate motivation behind the order, Brandon had only added on that last bit to encourage him to go dance with Bloom and that deep down the squire was feeling his girlfriend's pain just as sharply as she was. Sky had been friends with the brunette long enough to know that Brandon was normally an open guy who wouldn't shy away from consoling in someone else but there was also times when he would rather be left alone to sort out his thoughts on his own before he turned to someone else for advice.

Sensing Sky watching him, Brandon sighed. "Sky, I'm fine. Honest," Brandon assured him in a calmer tone. "Now go ask your girl to dance."

"Well, since you twisted my arm," Sky grinned, believing his squire enough to leave him. With a helpful shove off Musa, Sky managed to lead Bloom out onto the dance floor but neither of them could focus on one another. Bloom kept watching Stella sadly while Sky's blue eyes kept glancing back to Brandon.

"What are we going to do, Sky?" Bloom asked, leaning up against his chest.

"I don't think there's anything we can do," Sky admitted hopelessly. "This is King Radius's decision and we can't exactly tell him what to do. After all, he is the King."

"I know but his decision affects a lot of people and he didn't even talk about it with Stella. He just sprung it on her in a public place where she can't really express how she feels. That so unfair and now Stella's going to get stuck with Countess Cassandra as a stepmother and Chimera as a stepsister."

"Which one is Chimera?" Sky asked, scanning the crowd.

"That girl there with the long dark hair and the red dress," Bloom gestured with a nod of her head. Sky only managed to get a glimpse of the girl before she slipped out of sight.

"She doesn't look that bad."

"Yeah, well, looks can be deceiving," Bloom muttered darkly before blinking in surprise as a thought dawned on her. "Oh, I'm sorry Sky. You put off going to a meeting for you kingdom's Millennium Party to take me to this Ball and I'm being a terrible date."

"Bloom, you could never be a terrible date," Sky told her with a smile before his expression became sombre again. "None of us could have seen this coming and we're all still reeling from it."

"I guess but there's got to be something we can do."

"At the moment all we can do is hope that something happens and things work out for the best," Sky said, trying to sound positive but his optimism was shattered when Stella suddenly collapsed in the centre of the dance floor. Sky and Bloom both gasped when they saw the Princess sprawled on the ground, her father kneeling down beside her.

"Sweetheart? Are you all right?" King Radius asked anxiously but Stella didn't seem to be able to hear him, though even if she could there was no guarantee that she would be able to answer him. All she could do was groan and wail as if she was in pain.

"My gosh, Stella!" Bloom gasped, her fingers clinging to Sky so tightly that he could feel her nails digging through his uniform into his skin but he didn't respond to it. The Prince could only watch in shock as Stella's body started going through a horrific transformation. Her flawless skin turned a sickly green in colour, her perfectly manicured hands become webbed and her stomach bloated to the point where it ripped through the waist of her dress. And perhaps worse of all, was that her breathtaking face widened so that her lovely mouth now resembled the gaping mouth of a bullfrog and her nose flattened in a way that was often found in the ogre realm.

In place of the once beautiful Princess Stella, Radiant Jewel of Solaria, was now a hideous monstrosity that caused several guests to cry out in alarm.

"Stella," King Radius gasped, so shocked that even he back away from his own daughter.

"This has to be a dark spell," Bloom whispered, shaking her head in disbelief as Stella slowly sat up, looking groggy and confused. "It has to be."

Sky's mind was so shocked that he couldn't string together a sentence to reply to her but even if he did King Radius would have cut him of. The King had suddenly snap out of his shock and ordered, "Guards! Seize that awful creature! Lock her in the dungeon!"

"What?" Sky gasped. Surely King Radius would never do something so awful to his own daughter?

"Daddy. It's me, Stella," the princess pleaded but as the guests ran from the ballroom, the palace guards' move in to surround her. "Bloom, help!"

"Ah, stop!" Bloom shouted at one of the guards' that was moving in on Stella with his laser pike. With a quick spell, she knocked the pike out of the guard's hands but still more guards advanced.

"Stella!" Brandon shouted, pushing against the fleeing crowd of guest to reach his girlfriend. Within seconds, the ballroom was empty except for the guards, King Radius, Countess Cassandra, her daughter Chimera and for course the Winx Club and their two heroes, who had all surrounded Stella to protect her from the approaching threat of her own countrymen.

"Tell the guards who I am," Stella begged. The transformation had left her feeling drained and she could feel a distinct lack of magic within her body. It was similar to the feeling she had experienced during the Winx Club's freshmen year when Ms. Faragonda had suspended their powers as punishment for sneaking into Cloud Tower.

"Hey! This is Princess Stella!" Bloom told the guards and although some of them did hesitate slightly, they still had their pikes poised and ready for an attack.

"That hideous monstrosity? That can't be Princess Stella," Chimera said firmly, erasing any doubts the guards might have had. Left with no other options, Brandon pulled out his broadsword while Sky did the same with his own sword. They might be guests in this palace but they weren't going to let anyone hurt Stella or her friends. Chimera, on the other hand, though differently. "Guards, seize them all!"

At Chimera's command the guards ran forward, their pikes held out in front of them.

"Come on girls! Let's go!" Bloom shouted and in a burst of multicoloured light, the four girls transformed into their winx forms. With her powers diminished due to the spell that was on her, Stella was completely vulnerable so she did the only thing she could do; she ran.

The guards instantly gave chase but the two heroes and the rest of the Winx Club blocked them. Brandon and Sky quickly found themselves crossing blades with a pair of the guards, while another two used their laser pikes to fire two shots at Stella's unprotected retreating back. Fortunately the blasts where blocked at the last second by Tecna, who erected a shield that bounced the attack back at the two guards.

"Tecna, take it easy," Flora warned. "We don't want to hurt them."

"Maybe they just need a little beat down, so to speak," Musa suggested, blasting them with one of her music attacks.

"No hip-hop allowed in the . . ." one of the guards started to tell her but he was cut off as the attack hit him.

"Bloom, what do you think the plan should be?" Sky asked as he continued to fight off one of the guards. Stella's transformation and the sudden change in her father had rattled him severely and Bloom had proven to be a great strategist in the past so the Prince had no problem following her lead on this one.

"See if you and Brandon can get to the ship," Bloom told him. "Then try to fly back and get us."

Brandon and Sky quickly exchanged a look and when both of them winked at one another, they both knew that they each had the same idea. Without so much as a single word between them, they turned and bolted towards one of the large, elegant windows that surrounded the ballroom. Holding their arms up to shield their faces, they crashed through the window and landed on the ground outside, shards of glass falling from their hair and clothes that were amazingly free from any blood. Even more remarkable than the fact that they had both emerged without a single scratch, however, was that fact that they suddenly found themselves in the middle of a rainstorm.

"What the hell?" Brandon gasped, getting to his feet as he stared up at the sinister looking dark clouds that blocked out the sun and chilled the air around them. "It _never_ rains in Solaria."

"This doesn't look good," Sky agreed, also getting up. The rain falling around them seemed darker than the rain that fell elsewhere in the Magical Universe and it had a chilling cold the struck deeper than just the surface of his skin. Looking back over his shoulder at the window he had just crashed through, Sky noticed that the guards had split up so that half of them followed after the Winx Club while the rest came after the two specialist. "We got company."

"Let's make a break for it," Brandon suggested, bolting for in it in no particular direction. "Where's the ship?"

"I dunno. I got all turned around walking through the palace," Sky admitted, running as fast as he could to keep up with his squire. The two athletic teens proved to be too fast for the more mature guards so it wasn't long before the Eraklyians found themselves alone in the massive woodlands that surround the palace.

"I think we should head back to the palace and try to find a place we recognise so that we can find the ship," Brandon suggested as he panted heavily.

"I agree. We'll stick to the tree-line to avoid being seen by the guards," Sky suggested before moving off without further comment, his squire right behind him. The rain helped mask their footsteps as they moved through the undergrowth and it wasn't long before they had a good view of the palace. Now all they needed to do was find a landmark that would help them find where they parked their ship.

"See anything you recognise?" Brandon asked softly as they walked.

"No," Sky replied with a heavy sigh. "None of this makes sense. What the hell happened back there? Stella just collapsed and then her own father turned on her."

"You did see it?"

"See what?"

"Right before Stella's father ordered the guards to seize Stella, Countess Cassandra walked up behind him and was whispering something in his ear," Brandon told his Prince, who stopped walking and stared back at him in shock.

"You're kidding?" Sky gasped, his eyes wide. "You honestly think Countess Cassandra had something to do with this?"

"Hey, I'm just telling you what I saw, though I don't think she caused Stella to collapse. I was watching her as Stella danced and she showed no signs of spell casting."

"But Chimera may have," Sky speculated, recalling how Stella's future step-sister had slipped away from view when Bloom had tried to point her out to Sky. "She disappeared out of sight right before Stella's collapse."

"This doesn't sound good."

"I know but we can't go around making accusations until we have some proof. This is King Radius's fiancée and her daughter we're speculating against here. We're gonna need some creditability before we accuse her of anything," Sky pointed out.

"Yeah, I know," Brandon nodded, moving off again. "Let's just find the girls and get out of here."

Suddenly, there was an explosion on the top floor of the palace and the sinking feeling of dread in the stomachs told the two specialists that the Winx Club were somehow involved.

* * *

_(1) I'm probably gonna get a bit of backlash from this so I want to reiterate: it is not that Riven wants Stella and Brandon to break up nor that he never wants them to get married. I can just totally picture him freaking out when the conversation about marriage starts getting thrown around before they've even graduated. Furthermore, Brandon and Riven are allowed to have conflicting opinions on what is an acceptable age to get married. When I was twenty-three two of my best friends from high school got married and it was totally the right move for them. However even if I had been with the love of my life I don't think I could have gotten married at that age _

_(2) When I was younger I nearly seized my cars engine because I didn't check my oil levels or pay attention to the temperature gauge. I ended up breaking down and having to deal with the fallout from that, but the thing that really bugged me was that all the men in my life – my father, my then boyfriend etc – were all telling me off for not checking the oil. I never pretended to know anything about cars so where did they get off lecturing me about something that they should have educated me on before it got to the point where I was stranded on the side of the road. Even after all these years that still pisses me off_

_(3) In my 'Bands of Brothers' story somewhere in chapter nineteen 'Shadow In Bloom' I mentioned that Timmy had an older sister with this style of power _

_(4) I know or have known all of these animals except for a goat called Super Dude, however I do know of a kid that named his knew kitten that and I was in need of a dorky name_

_Okay, so I came up with the idea of Timmy, Helia and Riven going to Windox because a) they needed to go somewhere while the Princess Ball was happening and b) I knew that in future chapters I was going to really get inside Timmy's head and I'll admit that I didn't 'get him' as well as I got the rest of the guys. Therefore I used the old drama trick of working out a character's origins as a way to uncover their motivations and since Timmy's a bit of a 'straight man' he needed a really colourful but hopefully believable family. Plus can you imagine what it would be like growing up in a family with magic? Holy! _

_Oh, another note I'm away that I'm constantly flicking between 'mom' and 'mum' but that's because I've over analysed this cartoon (it's a little bit sad really) and come up with colloquial language for each realm and crap like whether they use the metric of imperial system. However they all speak using the UK/Australian spelling of words. _

_**TBC.**_


	3. Pretty, Pretty Princess

_**A/N: **__So I'm a little bit late, sorry about that but I had assignments due and I just fell behind schedule. Don't worry, I'll make it up to you guys somehow. Anyways, lets move on to the next chapter, shall we?_

* * *

**Chapter Three – Pretty, Pretty Princess **

Since the arrival of the Dark Wizard Baltor in the Realm of Tides, the security on Istari Island had increased to almost insane proportions. All agents on leave had been called back to the Island to be on duty. Every member of the Gwaihir Family was under a constant protection detail and a large number of their off-Island appointments had been cancelled. The director of the secret service was speaking with his employers daily, encouraging them to leave Tides and take residence in one of their inter-realm mansions so that they weren't so close to the threat of Baltor but the family were reluctant to leave. They may not be able to physically participate in the rescue efforts of the Tidenese citizens but just their presence in the realm signified to the entire Magical Universe that Tides was not a lost cause just yet. The Gwaihir's had vowed that they would stay in their home-realm for as long as they were safely able, even if it went against the advice from the director of their secret service. As a compromise Lord and Lady Gwaihir were being flexible with the increased security and made an effort not to put their staff under any further strain.

Nabu, on the other hand . . .

"HQ, this is Stokes. I got Book Bag," Agent Stokes reported into her radio, glaring at the young man standing on the beach at the waters edge. Even though Stokes made no effort to quiet her steps as she approached him, Nabu kept his eyes trained out to the contaminated-looking sea. "You know, the secret service get strangely worked up whenever one of the people they're assigned to protect sneaks off without us knowing. It kind of undermines what we're trying to do."

"You secret service guys are such delicate little creatures," Nabu noted in a condescending tone of voice, his eyes trained on the sea before him. "So touchy."

"You can be a brat all you want but it's not going to stop me from dragging you back inside, by the hair if need be," Agent Stokes threatened but when she failed to get Nabu to so much as look at her, the agent decided to switch her game up. "Nabu, this is for your own safety. I know that you – "

"I'm perfectly aware that this is all for my own safety, Special Agent Stokes. You do not need to remind me," Nabu growled, still looking at the water. "I've been listening to that particular speech since I was three years old. There's always some kind of threat that may have a desire to butcher me like some slaughterhouse farm animal. Seriously, after almost two decades the whole situation has just gotten tedious."

"It might be tedious but at least you're alive."

"That's debatable," Nabu muttered under his breath and Agent Stokes didn't need him to elaborate for her to understand what he was alluding to. Over the last couple of years Nabu had often debated with various secret service members whether a life in captivity really constituted living. "Any new details on what's happening on Portal Island?"

Agent Stokes paused for a moment before answering. "Details regarding Portal Island and the movements of the terrorist Baltor are not something you should concern yourself with. You should – "

"Not something I should concern yourself with?" Nabu repeated, looking at her for the first time. "Stokes, what's happening on Portal Island with Baltor is affecting all of Tides. This is my homeland and it's under siege so don't try and tell me that this doesn't concern me. Now, I'll ask again: what is happening out there?"

Agent Stokes held her ground and stayed silent. She had orders from the director not to disclose any information regarding the recent activities on Portal Island to the heir to the Gwaihir fortune but the agent also knew that Nabu could sometimes be a stupidly reckless person with a tenacious appetite for knowledge. He would not stop until he had all the answers to his questions. There was also a chance the young man would run headlong into danger even if he didn't have any information.

"Special Agent Stokes, as your employer I'm ordering you to tell me," Nabu said firmly.

"And as your employee I'm telling you that that little power trip isn't going to work on me. However, as someone who knows you, I'll tell you what I know so you don't go concocting some half-baked plan to get the information yourself. Or worse, start thinking that you could take on Baltor on your own and end up getting yourself killed. That will happen if you do go after him, just so you know," Agent Stoke informed the wizard before continuing. "Portal Island is in the complete control of Baltor and the Trix Sisters. Now if it were just a regular island it wouldn't be too much of a concern but as I'm sure you're already aware, Portal Island has a magical link between Tides and the Omega Dimension. There's a hell of a lot of energy flowing from that island and if anyone wanted take out this entire realm in one hit all they've got to do is compromise that portal."

"It was a mistake to make that portal," Nabu commented, wondering what the elder wizards were thinking when they created the portal. Only one of the three original wizards was still alive and Nabu was guessing that he would be regretting creating it now. "It's like putting a self-destruct button on a planet."

"They probably didn't foresee a threat like this ever happening. After all, they did build it decades before either of us was born."

"Yeah and how old are you now? Fifty?" Nabu asked with a sharp edge in his voice.

Agent Stokes glared at him maliciously. "I should punch you in the mouth for that."

"Touchy."

"Look, I know you're in a bad mood but don't you _dare_ take you frustration out on me," Agent Stoke growled, her entire posture threatening. The two of them might fight and argue like petty children from time to time but if things ever went too far Nabu was almost certain that she could kill him with her bare hands. And it wasn't just her physical fighting skills that the agent could best him in. Agent Stokes had a unique power that had always given Nabu a run for his money so there was no doubt in the young wizard's mind who would win in an out and out fight.

"Sorry," Nabu apologised quickly and quietly. "Who exactly is this Baltor?"

"He's probably one of the greatest wizards to ever exist," Agent Stokes informed the young Gwaihir and she earned herself a questioning look from him in return. "He did do terrible things with his magic but his power is extraordinary."

"Is it true that he was created from an ember of the Dragon Fire by the Ancestral Witches?"

"Yes. Using his magic he was directly responsible for an estimated quarte of a million deaths throughout the Magical Universe and that's not including indirect deaths or all the lives lost during the destruction of Sparx. Acting on the Ancestral Witches orders, Baltor lay waste to that realm and caused the entire population of Sparx to disappear within a single day. In fact, reports indicate that he maybe the last person to have seen the King and Queen of Sparx."

"What do you mean maybe?" Nabu asked. "Didn't they find out what happened to King Oritel and Queen Miriam before they sent Baltor to the Omega Dimension?"

"Baltor was never put to trial. The Magical Council and the Company of Light deemed him too dangerous to be released from stasis. Once they had him imprisoned in a frozen state they weren't going to give him the slightest chance to escape so they slapped a life sentence on him and sent him straight to the coldest part of the Omega Dimension."

"Why didn't he get the death penalty?"

"Because they would have had to release him from stasis in order to perform it," Agent Stokes said and from the look on Nabu's face she could tell he still didn't understand what she was saying. "Baltor is more powerful than you can possibly imagine. The Magical Council wasn't willing to release him from stasis for a second because they believed he would have had the strength to overpower their guards in an instant. Nabu, if you were to ever try and duel him Baltor would defeat you without breaking a sweat."

Nabu stared at the agent for a moment as he let her warning sink in. Part of him felt uneasy about this new information but another part of him rebelled against Agent Stokes's prediction of defeat. He was a strong and talented wizard. Nabu figured he could hold his own against Baltor's magic if it came down to a fight but he knew Agent Stokes would no doubt kill him herself if she knew he was thinking that way, so he quickly changed the subject. "What's happening with the population of Tides?"

"Naturally, the Royal Family and the government doesn't want to initiate any type of public panic but they are taking steps to evacuate civilians," Agent Stokes reported. "The military is helping relocate anyone who wants to leave – which at the moment are mostly young families, the disabled or handicapped, the elderly and the sick – and Vallisto and a few other realms are taking in refugees. The main concern at the moment is the merpeople. By this stage around sixty-seven percent of the entire mermaid population have been transformed into Baltor's minions and it's only a matter of time before Queen Lesia is targeted."

"What of the Wai Warriors?" Nabu asked with the same hesitation a person gets when they ask a question they're not sure if the really want to know the answer to. "Have we heard anything about them?"

"No," Agent Stokes told him regretfully. "We've heard nothing for the mermen."

The merpeople of Tides were not like the merpeople found in other parts of the Magical Universe. There were some similarities of course but in other realms merpeople were mysterious, untrustworthy monsters that often enticed unsuspecting victims to the waters edge to drowned them and fed on their flesh. In Tides, however, the merpeople were civilised and had developed excellent relations with the humans that lived on land and it was because of the mermaids that the humans and merpeople co-existed in such incredible harmony. Generations ago, a small group of mermaids made friends with a group of fairies and centuries later those fragile ties of friendship had developed into strong interracial relations that had proven beneficial to both races. The mermaids taught the fairies how to breathe underwater and understand the flow of the waves and currents of the ocean. In return the fairies gave the mermaids wings and showed them how to fly so that they could travel onto land for short periods of time.

The central habitation of mercommunity was a beautiful underwater kingdom under the rule of Queen Lesia and King Neptune. The population of that kingdom was predominantly female with only the King and a few courtiers – or tritons as they were called – living in the main city. The rest of the mermen – or Wai Warriors as they were also called – were nomads that spent their lives travelling in squads to patrol the deep, dark depth of the open ocean for any threat to the merkingdom (1). The mermen only returned to the city periodically to find or visit their mates and therefore rarely made contact with humans so they weren't quite as trusting of 'lung-breathers' as their female counterparts were. Nonetheless, the people of Tides valued their services because it was the Wai Warriors who protected the shallow waters surrounding the land from monsters such as giant sea serpents and krakens, even if they were only doing it to protect the mermaids.

However, as a reclusive island located in the middle of an expanse of ocean, the inhabitants of Istari Island had contact with the Wai Warriors somewhat regularly when they would pull themselves up onto the beach and use the sand to clean their scales. The Gwaihir Family didn't mind the mermen using their beaches because in turn they would patrol the waters surrounding the Island. And there was no denying that it was more convenient for the Wai Warriors to go to Istari Island than to travel all the way back to the crowded beaches on Tides mainland.

Normally the staff of Istari Island left the mermen alone whenever they visited the Island but Nabu wasn't like his staff. Ever since he was a child, Nabu had spent as much time as possible with the Wai Warriors whenever they visited his beaches. The mermen weren't very welcoming but over time the young wizard had developed a rare friendship with a Wai Warrior a few years his senior. As a captain in King Neptune's army, the merman Ophir was a skilled warrior with a passion for discussing the finer points of philosophy, which is where Nabu had found common ground with him. Ophir wasn't the warmest individual Nabu associated with but he came to the Island once every three months or so, which was a lot in Nabu's isolated life.

Nabu had seen media footage of what was happening to the mermaids near Portal Island and he was worried about Ophir and the other Wai Warriors.

"Keep me posted," Nabu ordered Agent Stokes.

"I already have orders that instruct me against that," Agent Stokes informed him.

"Well, these are your new orders."

"I'm not going to disobey my superiors. All memos and reports regarding Baltor's movements and other relevant information are kept in safe-boxes in each agent's office and none of your magic is going to be able to open that box," Agent Stokes told him firmly before adding in a softer voice that was difficult to hear over the churning waves, "So you better have remembered my combination."

* * *

Brandon's legs burned as he bolted through the soaked woodlands that surrounded Solaria's Royal Palace. The rain was draining the young specialists energy faster than normal but he wasn't going to slow down regardless of how out of breath he was. Both Brandon and Sky had seen the explosion coming from the aviary King Radius kept on the top floor of the palace and they had seen something – or someone – falling from the shattered window. And if Brandon knew Stella and her friends half as well as he thought he did, he knew they would be involved somehow.

"Brandon! Slow down!" Sky shouted as he ran after his squire. "It's wet! You're gonna fall and break your neck!"

"Sky, there was an explosion and you just know Stella and the others are involved!"

"Brandon!"

"That includes Bloom too!"

"Brandon!"

"What?" Brandon snapped, stopping so suddenly that Sky nearly collided with him from behind.

"We have no idea where we're going and we're making enough noise that even a deaf man could hear us coming," Sky pointed out. Slowly Brandon turned and looked back at him with an irritated expression.

"You may have a point there," Brandon agreed reluctantly, "but we know where we're going; the window."

"You mean that window?" Sky asked, pointing upwards. They had moved close enough to the palace so that they had a clear view of the shattered window without leaving the tree-line. There was, however, no sign of Stella or any of her friends.

"Where are they?" Brandon wondered out loud, scanning the woods surrounding him. The squire wasn't able to see any of the Winx Club but because he had stopped running he was able to hear the word 'hideous' being wailed in a voice that sounded very familiar to him. "That sounded like Stella. Stella! Bloom! You guys alright?"

Heading off in the direction Brandon had heard the voice, the two specialists ran out from the protection of the trees until they reached a clearing where Bloom, Flora, Tecna and Musa standing, all still in their winx forms. Stella, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"Hi there you guys," Bloom greeted, sounding like she was trying very hard to appear casual. Her smile also a little too strained to be reassuring.

"We were worried about you," Sky confessed, relieved that his girlfriend was safe. For now, at least. "Is everybody alright, Bloom?"

"We saw the explosions," Brandon informed them, gesturing back to the palace that was still smouldering. He noticed a few of the girls cringe in a way that told Brandon that the girls had been hoping he hadn't noticed the blast and therefore they wouldn't have to explain it. Unfortunately for the Winx Club, Brandon wasn't willing to just let it slide. "What happened?"

"Fire spell back draft," Tecna explained as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. "No biggy."

"But then up in the aviary the guards fired at Stella and knocked her off the roof," Bloom added and when she saw Brandon's face she pulled an expression that could only be read as '_oops_'.

Brandon folded his arms across his chest and effort to keep himself from lashing out. Did they honestly think he wouldn't notice his beloved girlfriend was missing? Trying valiantly to keep the bite out of his voice, Brandon asked, "Well then where is she?"

"She's looking for an escape rout so we can get off the palace grounds," Bloom told him in a hesitant tone that when coupled with her excessive blinking meant that even a fool could tell that she was hiding something. Her story's plausibility was not helped when Bloom continued on to say, "Yeah, that's right. Something that the guards don't know about."

"Yeah and she might not be back for quite some time so you probably shouldn't wait. You should just go get the ship and then we can meet you," Flora suggested sweetly and for the first time since they had met her, the two boys got the distinct feeling that the flower fairy wasn't being honest with them.

"We need to get out of here," Bloom reinstated quickly, effectively denying the boys the chance of questioning the information that they had been given. "Stella's father's been spelled so that he thinks his own daughter is the enemy. We've got to get back to Alfea so we can regroup and find a way to put things right again."

"Er, this doesn't sound right," Sky said, rubbing the back of his head. He didn't think his girlfriend would ever intentionally lie to him without reason but he still didn't like being out of the loop. It made planning battle strategies difficult and increased the risk of things falling apart.

Brandon seemed to be thinking along the same line as his Prince. "Yeah, what are you trying to hide?"

Any reply the girls may have had, however, was cut off by the sudden arrival of the palace guards that had finally managed to track them down. Musa was the first to see them and shouted for her friends to 'watch out' but her warning didn't come soon enough. The guards had already taken aim on the teenagers and without warning or even the dignity to face their enemy front on the guards took fire with their laser pikes. Brandon and Sky didn't even have time to reach for their own weapons when the shots reached them. One shot managed to hit Sky directly in the centre of his unprotected back, sending the Prince crashing to the ground with a loud grunt. Momentarily overwhelmed, Brandon quickly found himself surrounded by five Solarian palace guards who had obviously deemed the boys as more of a threat than the power drained fairies.

"Sky! Hold on!" Bloom cried out as she started to run towards him. Her power might be drained but that wasn't going to stop her from helping her boyfriend. Tecna, however, was able to view the situation is a state that was less emotional and more logical.

"Wait Bloom," the digital fairy said, seizing her friends' wrist and stopping her in her tracks. "This rain has zapped all our winx. We can't fight the guards like this. Let the guys handle it."

Gathering his wits, Brandon quickly pulled out and extending his broadsword before forcing the guards back with several powerful swings of his blade. He didn't necessarily want to fight them – they were only following orders after all – but the squire also knew that give half the chance they would arrest him and throw him in the dungeon. And he wouldn't be much use to Stella if that happened.

Meanwhile one of the guards charged at Sky, trying to get the advantage while the Prince was still on the ground but Sky quickly scrambled to his feet. Before the guard had even properly registered that his opponent was now standing, Sky managed to beat the pike out of the guard's hand and then knock the guard out cold with one good, solid punch. The blonde specalist was about to join Brandon in taking out the remaining guards when Bloom's shout suddenly caught his attention.

"Sky! Try to get to the ship. Here, take this!" the Last Princess of Sparx called, throwing a small object at him. Jumping up into the air, Sky easily caught it in one hand and saw that it was a communication device that no doubt belonged to Tecna. "We'll send you our co-ordinates."

"You got it!" Sky shouted back. With the device clenched tightly in his fist, Sky returned his attention back to the fight and quickly kicked another guard unconscious. Picking up the discarded pike, Sky ignored the laser trigger and instead used the large staff to whack another guard over the head that then crumpled to the ground, completely knock out. That left Sky with one other guard to contest with while Brandon had one of his own.

It didn't take long for the last two guards to end up in a crumpled heap alongside their comrades and by then the Winx Club were nowhere to be seen.

"They were hiding something," Brandon commented and Sky knew without having to ask exactly who 'they' were.

"I'm sure they've got their reasons for it. Now c'mon. Let's find the ship so we can get out of here," Sky suggested. The pair of specialists hadn't moved a step when they heard the Captain of the Guards shout out an order to 'release the hounds' and a moment later, the two teens heard the sound of dogs barking.

"Stella!" Brandon cried in alarm, knowing that the dogs were no doubt after his girlfriend. Before the squire could bolt in the direction the girls had gone, Sky firmly seized him by the wrist. "What are you doing, Sky? Those dogs are gonna find Stella and the others. We've got to go after them."

"No! We've got to go find the ship. The girls can take care of themselves until then," Sky told him sternly.

Brandon growled in frustration but he knew that Sky was right. "_Argh_! This sucks! I never like running from a fight but this is particularly cruddy. I mean, I know that they're going after Stella. It's not exactly easy for me to walk away from that."

"I know and I don't like it either but we've got to get to the ship so that we're ready when the girls call," Sky reinstated, peering back through the rain at the palace. "I think I can find the ship from here but we're gonna have to try and stay out of sight. There are still too many guards around."

"Man, I hate sneaking around," Brandon grumbled but he retracted his broadsword. "C'mon, let's go."

Very quietly the two boys started off in the direction Sky thought the ship was parked. Progress was slow since they had to keep creep along cautiously to avoid being spotted by the guards that were still out patrolling for Stella and her friends. On more than one occasion the two Eraklyians had to pause completely and hide amongst the bushes until a patrol passed. Sky could tell that Brandon was getting more frustrated by the second but the squire managed to keep his teeth clenched together and stop the muttering that would come exploding out if given half the chance.

"Any sign of the monster?" one of the guards asked two of his subordinates as Brandon and Sky hid not far from them. The two teens were crouched down awkwardly amongst a conveniently dense thicket where any attempt to get into a more comfortable position resulted in the boys either getting poked by some branch or pressing parts of their bodies against the rain-sodden ground.

"No sir," one of the two subordinates answered quickly. "There are also no sign of the four fairies or the two Red Fountain specialists that were trying to protect it."

"Well we need to find them. We can't have a beast like that loose in the kingdom. It could be a danger to the women and children of Solaria," the first guard stated. Sky had to put a firm hand on Brandon's sword arm at that point to stop the squire from leaping out and attacking the guards.

The second subordinate looked to be a few years younger than the other two men and he seemed somewhat hesitant about following his most recent orders. "But one of those fairies said that that thing was Princess Stella. Surely she would never be a threat to any Solarian?"

"Just as Lady Chimera said, that monstrosity couldn't be Princess Stella," the superior officer snapped. "Besides, you've been given your orders. Don't go about second-guessing the decisions of your superiors or you're not going to get very far in this career. Am I clear, solider?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good. Now move out and find them."

Sky and Brandon remained hidden as the three guards moved off and once they were sure the coast was clear the two specialists climbed out from thicket and headed off again.

"When all this is over, I'm gonna find that officer and punch him in the mouth," Brandon hissed angrily. "_Hard._"

"_Shh_," Sky shot back as they approached the area where the tree line thinned out to an open area that surrounding the palace. It was here that a lot of the Ball's guests had parked their transport. "I think I see the ship."

After taking their time to be certain that the coast was clear, the two boys bolted from the safety of the trees and quickly boarded their ship. Moving as quickly as they could they got the engines online and took off, hiding themselves in the dark, rainclouds that covered the realm.

"So now what? We just cruise around in circles until the girls give us a call?" Brandon asked, peering out the rain-splattered window to the grounds below.

"That's all we can do," Sky answered with a _sigh_ as he carefully piloted the ship through the rainclouds. Luckily, there wasn't any lightening but the dark clouds were still difficult to see through so all their sensors had to be on, ready to detect any other aircrafts that might be flying nearby.

Time seemed to drag, so even though they only had to wait no longer than ten minutes for the girls to contact them it felt to the two boys that it had been hours. When the co-ordinates finally came in the heroes discovered that the girls had actually manage to travel a fair distance outside of the palace grounds into the surrounding woods so at least they didn't have to worry about hiding from the guards when they went to pick them up. The girls had managed to find a clearing large enough to accommodate the ship and Brandon burst out of the ship doors as soon as they opened.

"Stella! You okay?" he asked but instead of answering him, Stella – who was covered from head to toe in a bright pink cloak – brushed passed him and then locked herself in the ships lavatory. Startled, Brandon looked back at her friends. "What was that about?"

"She's just upset about everything that happened," Bloom explained, once again giving off a vibe that made the squire think that she wasn't telling him the complete truth. "I know you want to comfort her, Brandon, but she really wants to be alone right now."

Brandon looked furious but he kept his mouth shut. Wearing an expression darker than the storm clouds above them Brandon turned on heel, marched back into the ship and started hitting the controls with more force than was necessary.

"You girls all right?" Sky asked the Winx as they entered the ship and the doors shut behind them. The four fairies all looked soaked and there were strange red marks all over their bodies.

"We had a run in with some leeches," Bloom told him, rubbing a red patch on her arm where a leech had bitten her.

"Not to mention dogs, a bolder and a bunch of giant spiders," Musa added casually, water dripping visibly from her pigtails as she sunk down into one of the seats the ship had on offer. A puddle started to form beneath her almost immediately.

"We need to get to Alfea as soon as possible," Tecna said, joining Brandon at the control panel and scanned it with purpose. "Brandon, can you access the Hitxikers Warp Drive that Timmy installed during the Great Witch Invasion to get you guys to Sparx?"

"You bet," Brandon nodded, his tone only a little bit sharper than usual but he started entering in the commands to begin the booting up sequence.

With Brandon distracted, Bloom quickly dragged Sky off into one corner of the ship so she could speak to him in hushed tones. "Sky, something's happened to Stella."

"Is she all right?" Sky asked. Bloom's news was alarming but he easily caught his girlfriend's hints that they needed to be subtle about this conversation, even though they were among friends.

"She's fine but she's had a dark spell put on her that made her look like a hideous monster and I don't think any of us have magic powerful enough to break it. We've got to get back to Alfea so that Ms. F can hopefully help us," Bloom told him, glancing at Brandon again to be sure that Tecna still had him distracted with the flying of the ship. "The thing is, Stella doesn't want Brandon to know."

"What? Why?"

"You know what Stella's like. For better or worse, she's superficial and she's afraid Brandon won't want to be with her if he sees her like this."

"That's ridiculous. Brandon loves Stella and it's not just because of her looks," Sky said confidently, feeling as if he needed to defend his best friend and his feelings for the Princess of Solaria.

"I know and we tried to tell her that but Stella still doesn't want him to see her."

"I'm pretty sure he already suspects that something is up."

"Sky, _please_," Bloom begged and Sky suddenly noticed how frazzled and exhausted she looked. "Between her father announcing his engagement to Countess Cassandra, discovering Chimera's going to be her future stepsister and being spelled, Stella has had enough to deal with for one day. So please, just cut her this one little break."

Sky _sigh_ed heavily. "Fine but this isn't going to be easy. I mean, is she going hide in the toilet the entire trip?"

"If she needs to, yes."

Sky _sighed _again. "This is going to be a long flight back to Magix."

"Yeah, well, just don't drink any fluids and try to keep Brandon away from Stella."

"Easier said than done," Sky _huff_ed. Ever since Brandon had first laid eyes on Stella he had been utterly smitten. Even though he was just a squire and she was a princess there was no force in the Magical Universe to keep Brandon away from his beloved girlfriend so Sky was not at all surprised when the trip back to Magix remained extremely tense from start to finish. Stella remained locked in the lavatory the entire trip and Brandon's mood became sourer by the hour. Sky was certain that Brandon knew something was up and the squire didn't like not being in the know or at the very least be able to comfort Stella. Sky wished he could have told Brandon what was going on but he had made a promise to Bloom that he would keep his mouth shut. Plus he understood that Stella couldn't deal with her relationship with Brandon on top of everything else that had happened that day.

Therefore, after two hours of flying in almost complete silence, it was with a large amount of relief that Sky finally announced, "All right, we're coming into Alfea."

"I'll call you tonight, Sky," Bloom promised cheerfully, her tone covered up the seriousness of the situation they were facing. Sky already knew that the phone call from his girlfriend that night wouldn't be like the usual causal conversations they often shared as they got ready for bed, which could range from their opinions on serious social issues to their favourite flavours of ice cream. Instead, she would be filling him in on what they were going to do to help Stella.

"Not if I call you first," Sky grinned at her, feeling the need to continue the charade to try and keep Brandon in the dark for a little longer. With well-practiced skill, the Prince brought the squad ship in for a landing in Aflea's quad.

"Stella," Brandon tried as the doors opened but Stella – still wrapped up in her pink cloak – rushed out of the ship and disappeared into the school for fairies before he could get a word in. Gritting his teeth together and squeezing his hands into fists, Brandon only just resisted the urge to curse out loud.

"C'mon Brandon. Let's go home," Sky said, sensing his friends' frustration.

Brandon didn't trust himself to respond out loud and instead turned his attention back to the ships controls.

* * *

"Hey, look who finally made it home," Brandon grinned the following morning as soon as he spotted Timmy, Helia and Riven making their way down the hallway towards their dorms. After dealing with all the drama that had occurred on Solaria, Brandon was eager for some sense of normality and there was nothing more normal for him than making fun of his friends. "Your mother and I were so very worried."

"Shut up," Riven snapped without much heat, pulling Brandon into a headlock and knuckle rubbing his hair. "It's not my fault Helia doesn't check his oil."

"Least it wasn't cordial," Helia pointed out.

Brandon looked up, his hair askew and a confused expression on his face. "I don't get it."

"It's an inside joke," Riven assured his squadmate, releasing him for the headlock. "Hey, you'll appreciate this, squire. Helia and I met the Timster's family and he's been holding out on us. His sisters are _fine_."

Brandon's face brightened for the first time since King Radius's special announcement at Stella's Princess Ball. "Really? Timmy, is this true?"

"No it isn't. He's just saying that to bug me," Timmy growled, glaring at Riven darkly. The unexpected overnight stay with his friends at his family home had been a long and stressful episode for the spectacled specialist so Timmy's patience was much shorter than normal. Unfortunately Riven was the type of person that enjoyed pushing people when they were in an irritated state.

"That's mostly true but you can't deny your sisters are hot. Camera phone never lies," Riven grinned devilishly as he pulled out his phone and shook it tauntingly just out of Timmy's reach.

"Oh! Photos! Show me! Show me!" Brandon sang like a little kid, sliding in close to Riven so that he could look over his shoulder at the screen. Timmy looked ready to launch himself at Riven and try to shove the phone down the former thief's throat but Sky decided to take advantage of the distraction and seized hold of Timmy's wrist.

"While you do that I'm just gonna have a quick word with Timmy about something," Sky said rapidly as he dragged Timmy away. Riven and Brandon were too busy checking out the photos of Timmy's sister to really notice their sudden departure but Sky could feel Helia's cool, cobalt eyes staring after them.

"I swear, I'm gonna kill Riven," Timmy growled as Sky dragged him out of earshot of the others.

"We'll do that later, I promise, but right now we've got more important things to deal with," Sky informed his squadmate the seriousness of his tone instantly grabbed Timmy's attention.

"What happened?"

"Too much for me to explain everything in detail. The long and the short of it is that Stella's dad is now engaged to a woman who Stella doesn't like and she also has a daughter who, to put it simply, is a bit of a monster. And then on top of all that, Stella's got a dark spell on her and now she looks like a cross between a frog and a bear," Sky quickly explained.

Behind his glasses, Timmy's eyes had gone very wide and he blinked a few times as all the information hit him. "Whoa. Is Stella all right?"

"She's not injured or anything but she looks terrible. The Winx girls have done some research and they think they've found something that can help. On the other side of the Barrier Mountains there's something called the Mirror of Truth, which we're going to go help them find. Now, if Stella is meant to be beautiful it should turn her back. If not, she's gonna be stuck looking like a monster for the rest of her life."

"What do you mean by 'if Stella's meant to be beautiful'?"

"I'm not really sure. I'm just repeating what Bloom told me last night. Something about the Universe balancing itself out? I dunno. I think it's one of those 'meant to be' kind of things," Sky shrugged before looking over his shoulder to where Brandon still stood with Riven and Helia. "Also, Brandon doesn't know."

Timmy blinked again. "Huh? Brandon doesn't know? Doesn't know what?"

"He doesn't know that Stella's been transformed into a beast."

"Are you gonna tell him?"

"Stella doesn't want us to but she also wants him to come to find the Mirror of Truth with us."

"Well how is she going to manage that?"

"The girls said they'd handle it. We just gotta find a way to keep Brandon enough in the dark that he doesn't ask too many question and of course keep Riven and Helia out of this."

"Yeah. I have the feeling that Stella would die if Riv ever found out what happened to her," Timmy commented and Sky nodded in agreement. The friendship that existed between the Solarian Princess and the former street rat was complex to say the least. "You do realise this is going to be incredibly difficult, right? I mean, just sliding information past Riven and Helia is gonna be hard enough but then we're gonna have to deal with Brandon when he's in the room. This isn't going to be easy."

"I know but we can't really do anything to change that. C'mon," Sky said, turning around to go back and join the rest of his squad but the Prince visibly jumped when he discovered one of his squad members standing directly behind him. "Helia! W-What are you doing?"

"I suppose I could be ask you the same question," Helia replied calmly, his face unreadable. Sky quickly glanced over Helia's shoulder and saw that Riven was still entertaining Brandon with stories of Timmy's family and part of Sky regretted that it hadn't been one of them that had snuck up behind him. It was possible to sometimes sneak information passed the other two but Helia's cool, cobalt eyes always seemed to be able see right through any of their lies. "There's something you're not telling me."

"Helia, it's – " Sky started but Helia held up his hand to politely interrupt him.

"Please, let me finish. While I'm certain that there's something you're not telling me about, I like to think that we've become good friends over the last year. Therefore I can only assume that the reason you're keeping secrets is because it involves something with a need to know basis rather than a personal slight against myself," Helia deduced. "Am I correct?"

Sky nodded. "We would tell you if we could but . . ."

"I get it. Need to know. Though I'm assuming it has something to do with Stella given of the media that's coming out of Solaria at the moment. I'm not going to pry since I trust that you have good reasons for it, however I'm guessing that this involves the Winx Club so I am going to ask you this; is Flora in any danger?"

"No."

"Is she going to be put in any danger?"

Sky and Timmy exchanged a quick look. "Well, theoretically, no," Sky answered.

"But this is the Winx Club we're talking about," Timmy continued.

"And they have a habit of attracting trouble," Helia finished with an understanding nod. The former art student may have only met the Winx Club a year ago but he had quickly learnt that those girls always managed to make the most simplest of missions complicated. Bloom and Stella couldn't even go shopping for a Stella's Princess Ball dress without stirring up some drama and that was just in downtown Magix. "Can you promise me that you'll look out for Flora whenever possible?"

"Of course," Sky answered immediately. "We'd do that for her even without you asking. Hell, we'd do it for all the girls. They're all our friends too, not just girlfriends."

"Thanks," Helia smile gratefully before looking back to where Brandon and Riven were still talking animatedly. "Is Brandon on the inside?"

"He knows parts of it but there's still some things we're trying to keep him out of the loop of."

"Okay. Good luck with that. I'll keep Riven out of your hair so at least that's one thing you won't have to worry about."

"Thanks Helia," Sky said earnestly. While it was true that he and the others had taken some time to understand Helia and his ideals, now that they were friends Sky couldn't picture life without him. Unlike the other members of their squad who could sometimes act like children a fraction of their age, Helia was very mature and a lot smarter than most of their grade, especially when it came to politics and the human condition. Sky had complete confidence that Helia could manipulate Riven enough so that the burgundy-haired teen had no idea what was happening.

"You're welcome," Helia nodded before turning to move back to where Brandon and Riven were studying Riven's phone. After a deep breath to steel their nerves, Sky and Timmy followed him.

"Brandon, grab your gear. We've got a mission," Sky announced, instantly grabbing the attention of not only Brandon but Riven as well.

"What mission?" Riven snapped, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"We're going to the other side of the Barrier Mountains."

"Why?"

Sky paused as he realised that he hadn't prepared an answer for that. He felt Timmy tense alongside him, informing Sky that the A-grade student wasn't able to think up a believable mission objective without exposing Stella's secret on the fly. Fortunately for them, there was Helia.

"Stella's having trouble accessing her magic and there's a magical artefact there that might help her," Helia answered calmly and even though Sky knew that he was lying through his teeth, there wasn't even the slightest trace of dishonestly on the artists face. What was also incredible was that his lie had hit pretty close to the mark, even without Helia having all the information.

"Stella's having trouble accessing her magic?" Brandon repeated and there was nothing in his voice or on his face to indicate what he was thinking.

"Yeah, she's kind of embarrassed about it which is why she wanted us to keep it from you 'til now," Sky told his friend and Brandon shot him a look that the Prince couldn't decipher. It was a look of concern for his girlfriend but the squire also looked irritated and somewhat insulted, mixed in with various other emotions. All in all, Sky had no idea what his best friend, whom he had known for years, was thinking.

"Sounds like a boring mission," Riven grumbled, folding his arms across his chest.

"Well I'm glad you think so because we're not going," Helia told him matter-of-factly.

"What? Why?" Riven demanded, sounding like he was being cheated out of something. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Sky couldn't help but grin at his two friends. They honestly looked like a child grumbling to a parent.

"Because you need to report to the Q-Store and help the Q-Master with end-of-year stocktake as punishment for hitting Kane last year (2)," Helia reminded him calmly. "Don't tell me you forgot about that?"

"No but it's friggin' ridiculous. Why am I getting punished? I didn't even start the fight. Stupid Kane was the one who threw the first punch."

"Yes but, knowing you as I do, I'm sure you antagonised him into it. Not to mention the fact that you did retaliate."

"What was I supposed to do? He was punching me in the face," Riven defended himself as if Helia had any power to retract his punishment. "It's not like I wanted to hit him."

"Oh you little liar. We may not have been friends at the time but even I knew that you and Kane had been itching for a fight for a while. In fact, you even told me that it felt so good to finally hit him that you almost had change your pants afterwards."

"Ew," Timmy interjected. "Riven, you are foul."

Riven could only grin devilishly. "It did feel good," he admitted before returning his attention back to the mission that he wasn't allowed to go on and the person – in his mind – who was stopping him from going on it. "But why aren't you goin'?"

"It's a simple mission so they don't need that many people to go along and I figured that you wouldn't want to be left home alone," Helia replied with a zen-like look of acceptance.

Riven brightened at the thought that someone might stay behind to help him with his punishment. "You're gonna help me with the Q-Store stocktake?"

"No. I'm going to sit to one side and make taunting comments to you while you work."

Riven's expression dropped. "You know, for a humanitarian you're pretty cruel."

"I know. Now go get changed into some older clothes," Helia ordered. "Some of that equipment has gotten surprisingly dirty over the last twelve months."

"We better get ready to. We have to be ready to leave within the hour," Sky informed the two squad members that were joining him on this mission. Timmy nodded and then quickly ran off to make sure the ship was appropriately stocked and had enough of fuel to get them to and from the Barrier Mountains.

Brandon moved off to grab his gear as well but he wore that unreadable expression on his face that made Sky feel rather uncomfortable.

* * *

The second the ship landed in Alfea's quad, Bloom, Musa and Flora rushed onto the ship. Musa quickly grabbed both of Brandon's hands in hers and then started to apologise extensively to him for not telling him about what happened to Stella on Solaria. While the musical fairy apologised and the squire looked baffled, Flora stood directly behind Brandon and was quietly muttering the words to a spell she was conjuring up. Before Sky had even properly processed what was happening, Bloom pulled him away to speak to him in a place that was far enough away from Brandon so he couldn't hear what she was saying but close enough to Timmy so that he could.

"Okay, here's what's happening; Flora's spelling Brandon so that he can only see Stella's inner beauty, not her outer appearance," Bloom quickly and quietly explained. "By the way, thank you so much for sending that text about how you told Brandon that we were going to the Mirror of Truth because Stella's having trouble accessing her winx. That was a stroke of pure genius. We had no idea what we were going to use as an excuse to go to the Barrier Mountains."

"Yeah, well, I can't exactly take credit of that," Sky admitted, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "Helia came up with it."

Bloom's eyes widened in alarm and then she smacked Sky sharply across his upper arm. "You told Helia?"

"No," Sky replied quickly, glancing over at Brandon. His squire had looked up at the sound of Sky getting hit but Musa had seized him by the chin and forced him to look at her before he turned his head far enough to see Flora. "He used his freaky powers of observation to realise something had happened at the Princess Ball but luckily his too polite and trusting to stick his nose into it without being asked. All we had to do was assure him that we were going to look after Flora and then he was fine with not knowing all the details. The only thing he was worried about was Flora's safety."

"Oh, that so romantic," Bloom gushed, her eyes going all shinny as she looked over at Flora who was finishing off her spell.

"Meanwhile, I'm sure Brandon's knows we're keeping something from him and has gotten really moody because of it."

"Well he's just going to have to deal with it," Bloom said firmly, turning back to Sky with a warning look. All the shininess had gone from her eyes and was replaced with hard determination.

"Oh girls. We better go tell Tecna and Stella that the boys are here and that we're ready to go," Flora suggested loudly, informing her friends that she had finished with the spell.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Musa agreed rather enthusiastically. Just as quickly as they had run onto the ship the three girls ran back out again, leaving behind one very confused and very spelled Brandon.

"I tell ya, I love those girls and all, but sometimes they are really, really weird," Brandon said, looking a little wide eyed and dazed from that last encounter.

"Yeah but what are you going to do?" Timmy shrugged, trying to act normal. "We've known those girls for over two years now and the only think we know for sure is that the Winx Club are magnets for unexpected adventures."

"Never a truer words was spoken, Timmy. Now we might as well head out and wait for said magnets," Sky suggested, walking outside with the other two behind him. They had a long flight ahead of them to the Barrier Mountains so they all figured that they better soak up some fresh air while they had the chance.

It didn't take long for Bloom, Musa and Flora to return only this time they were joined by Tecna and Stella, the latter of which still wearing the pink cloak she had been wearing on Solaria. Flora was speaking to her as they neared the ship and just before they reached it, Stella reluctantly pulled off the cloak.

"Hey there beautiful," Brandon greeted her, rubbing her blonde head affectionately and Stella beamed at his welcome.

"Wayda go inner self! You got it going on!" Stella cheered loudly, grinning widely.

Brandon, however, had no idea what she was going on about. "Say what?"

"Come on!" Stella told him, grabbing his arm and dragging him into ship. The rest of the girls had already boarded and Sky and Timmy were busy getting the ship ready for take off. Sky had seen glimpses of her on Solaria and yesterday when he had dropped her at Alfea so he gave her a short sympathetic smile before quickly returning to his task. Timmy, however, hadn't seen her and he struggled to keep his face neutral as he took in the Princess's altered appearance.

"Hi girls," Timmy said, his voice cracking slightly as if he was still going through puberty. "Um, we'll, um, be ready to go in just a minute."

"Yeah, so get yourselves comfortable because we've got a long flight ahead of us," Sky told them before he carefully piloted the ship out of Alfea's quad and on its way toward the Barrier Mountains and the Mirror of Truth.

* * *

"One thousand, one hundred and ninety-three," Nabu said out loud as he punched in the combination to Agent Stokes's safe-box. Five years ago the young wizard had spent two months trying to work out the code and after going through all the birthdays and word combinations he could think of, Nabu had finally worked that it was the number of pages in her favourite book (3). And even though she knew he knew it, Agent Stokes hadn't been bothered to change it.

With a soft _click_ the door to the safe-box opened. The box itself wasn't very big – Nabu owned TV's that were bigger than it – but it held as surprising amount of paper work that could easily become chaotic if the person who owned it wasn't anal-retentive like Agent Stokes was. It was here that Nabu planned to find the secret services reports that would tell him exactly was happening on Portal Island.

"All right, let's see what we got here," Nabu muttered to himself, pulling out several reports. Life as a scholar had taught him to skim read large bodies of text and only absorb the main facts, which is exactly what he did as he sat on the floor of Agent Stokes's office, pouring through report after report.

_Portal Island has been completely seized by Baltor . . . The entire company of mermaid guards posted at Portal Island have been transformed . . . Forty-seven percent of the mermaid population have become Baltor's minions . . . Twelve percent MIA . . . Unconfirmed sightings of a kraken near the City of Mermaids . . . Three navy carriers with over one-hundred crew members each were sunk by a giant sea-serpent . . . No survivors . . . _

By the time he was halfway through the reports, Nabu had to put the papers down and give himself a moment to collect himself. Nabu had spent hours arguing with his parents and the agents that were assigned to protect him that he wanted to know exactly what was happening in regards to Baltor but now that he knew it left his mind and body reeling. In his ignorance the young wizard had believed that he may have the power to stand against Baltor and protect the Realm of Tides but after reading through only half of the reports Nabu knew that he had seriously underestimated what kind of a man this Baltor was. Like Nabu, Baltor was a wizard however that was as far as the similarities went.

Baltor was a terrorist with no regard for human life. In the few days since he had arrived in Tides Baltor had been responsible for more deaths than some of the realms most nitrous mass murderers and Nabu knew this was only the start of it. Baltor wanted to enslave the Magical Universe and once he was done with Tides he would move onto another realm and suck the life out of it like some kind of parasite. And even in his weakened state, the Dark Wizard Baltor was more powerful than any of Tides fairies, wizards or water witches.

"Shit," Nabu cursed, running a hand over his dark hair. With a level of dread that was almost paralysing, he slowly reached out and dragged the next report closer to him. Nabu really didn't want to know any more horrific details and statistics surrounding Baltor and his deeds but he also knew that his mind wouldn't be satisfied until he knew everything. That was the curse of growing up with an academic mindset: he always needed to know more. With a heavy heart and a sick feeling in his stomach, Nabu glanced over the report and therefore almost missed the information he had been searching for. Once he realised what it was he was reading, Nabu shook his head and forced his mind to focus.

_At approximately 14:00 hrs, a small platoon of Wai Warriors was spotted three nautical miles off the island of __Motu __Kāmaka__. The platoon dove down out of detection before it could be determined whether they have been tainted by Baltor's magic or not._

"Motu Kāmaka Island," Nabu said out loud, scrambling to his feet and bolting over to the large map of Tides that was on the wall next to Agent Stokes's desk. The island was a few hundred nautical miles away and Nabu knew that with the threat of Baltor looming over everything there was no way the secret service would let him take one of his family's private jets or boats out. Teleportation was out of the question since that particular spell was impossible on Istari Island but no matter what it took, Nabu was going to find a way to get to Motu Kāmaka. He had precious little friends in his life and he wasn't going to let Ophir and his platoon slip through the cracks.

Fortunately there were other spells Nabu knew that Istari Island wouldn't block and he was willing to use them, no matter how difficult or dangerous they may be.

* * *

Almost an exact year ago, Sky and Brandon had travel to the Arid Mountain Range with Stella, Bloom and Layla so that they could enter the Under Realm and try and rescue the pixies from Lord Darkar's clutches. The Arid Mountains were an hour and a half flight away from Alfea and the Barrier Mountains were even further.

Magix was a particular realm in the sense that, even though civilianized humans had inhabited it for centuries, only half of it had been explored and charted. The side where Magix and the three schools existed had originally been inhabited by the dryads; a race of female human-like monsters that were associated with nature. When the realm was colonised by humans a few centuries ago, the dryads had resisted the humans' presence viciously before completely vanishing and leaving the humans to built the City of Magix as well as Alfea, Red Fountain and Cloud Tower. However the fear the dryads had instilled in the realm still remained so the humans had not explored the Realm of Magix in its entirety. The Barrier Mountains stood as a physical boundary between the inhabitable lands of Magix and the uncharted areas beyond. And that unknown land was filled with the monsters and other dangers that very few would willingly go up against.

"In all honesty, I would have never thought I'd ever get anywhere near the Barrier Mountains and now we're flying straight into it," Timmy admitted as the massive mountain range came into view. They were taller than the Arid Mountains and the group could see snow and ice capping the peaks of the mountains.

"Does anything actually live in those mountains?" Flora asked, peering out the window at them.

"Oh yeah. Apparently the monsters on the other side of the mountains often creep into the range to hunt but they very rarely go down to the woodlands below," Sky informed the flower fairy. "Though that doesn't make these mountains any less dangerous. Hydras. Storm spirits. Niegasha monsters. The Barrier Mountains have all of them."

"So any sign of anything on your monitors, let us know," Timmy told the girls. Bloom, Tecna and Flora had all been put in charge of a monitor each since Brandon was too focused on trying to support Stella to be of any help flying the ship. He and Stella sat to one side with Musa, who was inconspicuously making sure that Flora's spell was still in place.

"Something's happening on my monitor," Tecna reported. "It looks like a tear in the atmosphere."

"We're going into a storm," Timmy announced after he had checked the data.

"It's not a storm, Timmy," Sky disagreed as howling wind started to hit the ship with enough force to knock it slightly off course. In addition to being incredibly strong the wind was cold enough to carry snow and ice with it. "It's weather that actually attacking the ship."

"The temperature outside the ship is falling fast," Bloom alerted the group of teenagers and they could all see the ice forming on the front of the ship.

"I've never seen weather change this quickly," Tecna admitted as she moved to look over Timmy's shoulder at the screens in front on him.

"It looks like the ship is gonna freeze," Timmy told her and the others reluctantly. The ice was getting thicker by the second and it was only a matter of time before it started affecting their equipment.

"What would happen then?" Tecna asked even though she probably already knew the answer to that question. She just wasn't willing to believe it.

"We'd go down like a stone," Timmy replied.

"Great," Stella said sarcastically. "Just when I thought my week couldn't get any worse."

"Don't worry, Stella. We'll find a way to fix this," Sky assured her, checking the data on the ship to see how badly the ice was affecting it.

"Yeah, well you guys better come up with a plan fast 'cause things are looking pretty bad out there," Musa informed them, standing on her tippy toes so she could get a good look at the ice forming on the hull. It was noticeably thicker now and it was only a matter of time before the ship was completely frozen.

* * *

Transformation was not as easy as some people might think.

There were fairies, witches, wizards and warlocks who had a natural ability for morphing but for others it was an often a difficult and dangerous process. Simple shape shifting such as those that were human-to-human or human-to-animal was relatively safe since it was only the outward appearance of a person being affected. However human transformation into something deemed monster or magical creature class was very risky. The main issue was that individual was literally pushing their bodies somewhere between human and monster and sometimes they found it hard to switch back. After years of studying, however, Nabu was very confident with his transformation even if his magic teachers advised against the procedure. With all the bird life on Istair Island it had seemed natural for Nabu to experiment with transforming himself into some aviary life form. The only thing he didn't expect was how awkward it would feel transforming his bones into a lighter structure to become airborne and how painful it felt growing feathers. After years of practice the wizard had learnt to endure it and now he found it a convenient way to travel when he didn't want anyone tracking him.

With a soft grunt, Nabu landed awkwardly on the uneven ground of Motu Kāmaka in a transformation that was familiar but monstrous at the same time. His arms – or rather, wings – were aching from the long flight and his body was straining under the effects of the spell. Dark, violet feathers covered his entire body apart from his face, which remained human. His feet had been split so that he had three prongs pointing forward with a fourth pointing out of where his heel would be, just like the foot of a bird (4).

Peering out from behind the violet feathers that fell in front of his face Nabu studied his surroundings, looking for any possible threat before he put himself in the vulnerable position of transforming back. The island of Motu Kāmaka was completely isolated and was made up of black granite that had splintered until the island was literally a mass of razor-sharp black spikes pointing out in every direction, which could easily slice flesh if one wasn't careful. The island was completely barren and supported no plant or animal life and the only major geological feature was a narrow mountain that reared up out of the centre of the island. In the water, only just visible under the churning waters, was a thick reef that had long since died and was now bleached colourless so it resembled a boneyard hidden just below the surface of the water.

Hissing a deep breath through his teeth, Nabu started the difficult tasked of transforming back. He could feel his bones become denser, his feet shifted back to resemble a human foot and his feathers either got sucked back through his skin into his body or they fell out and were scattered in the wind. The entire process left Nabu breathless and drenched in sweat and in his temporarily weakened stare, he fell forward onto his hands and knees onto the jagged, black rocks.

"Son of a . . . !" Nabu cursed, checking the palms of his hands. None of the skin there had broken but he could feel small droplets of blood soaking into the knees of his pants. "I hate this god damned island."

In response to his muttering, a strong wind picked up to make it all the more difficult for Nabu to climb to his feet on the uneven ground. The wind smelled strongly of the contaminated odour of the ocean that was tainted by Baltor's presence and just the scent of it made Nabu feel nauseous and light headed. He couldn't imagine what it must be like for the merpeople and all the other sea creatures to swim in that sludge.

"Ophir!" Nabu shouted, trying to make his voice loud enough to be heard over the wind. "Ophir!"

'_What are you doing?'_ a voice at the back of the back of his head thought. _'Standing on a rock in the middle of the ocean shouting out someone's name? You may as well be looking for a needle in a haystack without the use of magic. It's utterly hopeless.'_

"Ophir! It's me! Nabu!" Nabu shouted again but the only reply he could hear was the howl of the wind and all he could see was the churning waves. "_Ophir!_"

With a heavy _sigh_, Nabu let his arms fall by his side and his shoulders slump. He wasn't really expecting it to be that easy but Nabu knew it was only a matter of time before Agent Stokes and the other agents to work out that he had left Istari Island and come after him. Once they had him back in their custody there was no way they'd give him another opportunity to slip away again. Nabu had to find the Wai Warriors and he had to find them quickly and the only way he was going to do that was to get wet.

Nabu was just starting to undo his jacket – he did not want it weighing him down when he went in the water – when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he got the feeling that somebody was watching him. Freezing, Nabu levelled his breathing and gathered up a small amount of magic in his chest, ready to use at a moment's notice if need be. The wizard focused his senses, tuning out the sounds of the ocean until he heard the dull thud of a heartbeat and it was giving him every indication that it was coming from behind him. Slowly, Nabu turned and with mixed emotions saw a Wai Warrior standing erect with only the base of his jade green tail in the water.

"Ophir," Nabu said softly, relieved that he had finally found his friend but that relief turned to dread when he got a good look at the merman.

Unlike their female counterparts, the mermen of Tides did not have a wide variety when it came to physical appearances. With the exception of the paler tritons, most mermen were olive skinned with dark hair and tail scales that were almost always a shade green. The only thing that made each individual distinctive was the tribal tattoos that were etched onto their upper body and faces when the merman came of age (5).

Normally, Ophir looked like any typical Wai Warrior with his olive skin and tattoos covering his upper body but under the dark magic of Baltor, his skin had turned a sickly shade of green, his face was more reptilian than human and his dark eyes were now a disturbing shade of yellow. As six more mermen rose up out of the water Nabu saw that they had all been transformed and all had their weapons drawn.

"Hi guys?" Nabu greeted awkwardly, not liking the way the Wai Warriors were looking at him.

In response, Ophir let out an animal like scream that must have been some kind of battle cry because a second later Nabu had to scramble to avoid being hit by the whalebone and greenstone weapons that were hurled at him. One axe-like weapon carved from whalebone was thrown with incredible precision and would have no doubt imbedded itself in Nabu's chest if he hadn't quickly erected a magical shield to reflect the weapon.

Dropping his shield once the bombardment of weapons ceased, Nabu scanned the ocean for the warriors but they had all dived back down under the water's surface. Despite the fact that he was on land and the merman had no wings to help them fly the way the mermaids could, Nabu knew he wasn't safe. The Wai Warriors had strength in their tails that the mermaids didn't have so they were able to move faster through the water and could launch higher when they projected themselves up into the air. The bleached reef surrounding the island gave Nabu a slightly larger ring of protection but if they really wanted to the Wai Warriors could still reach the wizard and at the moment he had no idea where any of them were.

"Come on," Nabu hissed out through gritted teeth, looking in every direction for any traces of heads or tails of the mermen. The sick looking waves continued to churn but there was no hint to where the Wai Warriors were. "Where are they?"

_Slap!_

Jumping violently, Nabu spun around to where the sound had come from but again all he saw was the churning waves.

_Splash!_

Off to the left this time and again he saw nothing.

_Slap! Splash! Slap!_

In an explosion of sound, Nabu saw glimpses of jade as the Wai Warriors flicked and slapped the surface of the water with their tails. Nabu had no way of following each merman because as soon as they slapped their tails they shot off through the water to another location while another one grabbed Nabu's attention with a flick of their own tail. Nabu felt rather dazed and overwhelmed by all the noise and motion that he almost didn't realise what the warriors were doing until it was too late; they were trying to distract him.

Moving through the water like a torpedo, one of the mermen was closing in on the island with enough speed to not only launch himself onto land but to also land at Nabu's feet. Not even the reef surrounding the island seemed to act as an obstacle as the Wai Warrior smashed straight through the bleached coral like it was nothing. As the mermen erupted out from under the surface of the water Nabu saw with a sinking feeling of dread that it was Ophir himself coming to attack him, his spear in one hand and a murderous glint in his sick, yellow eyes.

Leaping backwards, Nabu only narrowly missed getting sliced by the blade at the end of Ophir's long weapon. Instead the spear hit the jagged, black rocks with such force that it caused sparks as the merman crashed to the ground. Nabu failed to keep his footing on the uneven terrain and fell onto the jagged rocks, cutting himself in several places. More scratches found their way onto the wizards skin as shards of the reef that Ophir had crashed through rained down on him along with a spray of water. The white coral looked more bone-like against the black rock of Motu Kāmaka and it was made even more gruesome since they were stained with the merman's dark red blood. Nabu could see that Ophir's tail and bare torso was ripped and bloody to such an extent that there was no way that the Wai Warrior would be able to come away from this without some permanent reminder of the encounter.

However that was not going to stop the tainted merman from attacking his adversary with everything he had.

"Ophir! It's me!" Nabu tried to reason with his old friend but Ophir was well passed reasoning. Using his incredible upper body strength Ophir moved in against Nabu in a way that, when doubled with the horrible, reptilian face, caused a shiver of horror to travel up Nabu's spine. It wasn't helped by the fact that every time the merman moved he cut himself up further and by the time he had travelled the distance of three meters the palms of his hands were reduced to a bloody, red mess. "Ophir!"

"_Argk!_" Ophir screamed like some kind of feral animal, thrusting out his weapon in an effort to try and stab the young wizard. Nabu managed to scramble out the way of most of the attacks but one jab managed to cut him across the ribs just under his right arm. It wasn't that deep but two inches to the left and Nabu would have been trouble.

"Ophir! Listen to me; you're under a spell! Baltor is making you do this!" Nabu tried to tell his friend as he continued to dodge Ophir's attacks. "You have to fight it!"

Ophir let out another snarl and then swung his spear at Nabu's throat. Fortunately, Nabu was just far enough away to avoid the blade but he did feel the air rush passed him. The wizard had been lucky enough to avoid the worst of Ophir's attacks but he knew that he could only rely on luck for so long. Trying to reason with the Wai Warrior wasn't working, so Nabu was going to have to take a more aggressive course of action.

"All right. _Stupefy!_" Nabu spelled, stunning the merman. Ophir didn't fall into unconsciousness but he was so dazed that he just lay on the black rocks, bloody and gasping like a fish out of water, which in some sense he was. Merpeople could survive on land for short periods of time – the mermaids generally could last longer than their male counterparts – but their lungs had evolved to mainly receive their oxygen from the water that normally surrounded them so they had to return to the ocean every couple of minutes in order to catch their breath. Under normal circumstances, Ophir would have no trouble staying on dry land for this span of time but with the spell Baltor had over him, the stunning spell Nabu had just hurled at him and the various cuts and scratches that covered his body, it was all quickly draining the merman. Nabu knew that if the Wai Warrior didn't get back in the water soon, the lack of oxygen would cause serious damage to him, maybe even death.

However, despite being pressed for time, Nabu wasn't willing to let Ophir go until he took advantage of having him disabled like this and try to counter Baltor's spell. Focusing all his energy into the centre of his body, Nabu tuned out all other noises and distractions so that he could unleash the most powerful counter spell he knew on the gasping merman that lay at his feet.

'_Please work_,' Nabu prayed silently to himself as he released the spell. It hit Ophir like an electric shock and her jerked accordingly. Simultaneously, Nabu's legs buckled beneath him as all his energy left him along with the spell. In all honesty he hadn't expected the spell to take that much out of him but when the wizard looked down himself, he saw that his clothes were ripped and stained with a large amount of his own blood, which would explain his light-headedness.

"_Argk!"_

The animalistic screech jerked Nabu out of his exhaustion addled state and he looked up to see Ophir slowly struggling back towards the safe haven of the water. One look at the Wai Warrior's face told Nabu that his spell had done nothing. That had been the most powerful counter spell Nabu knew and yet his friend was still under Baltor's control, which was testament to how powerful a wizard Baltor was. Knowing that he was defeated, the merman weakly pulled himself across the sharp rocks towards the water's edge, leaving a smear of dark red blood in his wake that glistened wetly on the black rocks.

"Ophir," Nabu gasped weakly, black spots appearing in front on his eyes. The last thing Nabu saw before he passed out was a pair of hands that must have belonged to one of the other Wai Warriors reaching out from below the water's surface to drag their captain back into the water and Ophir went with him like a dead weight.

And then everything went black.

* * *

"Okay, if I rewrite the ships air conditioning away from the cargo bay and enter it in here I'd be able to . . . heat the cockpit which of course would do nothing to the outside of the ship," Timmy said aloud to himself more than anyone else. They were all spit balling for ideas to help get rid of the ice that was forming on the hull and so far nothing was sticking.

"Guys, I'll go out there and try to melt the ice with my solar ivy," Flora suggested, her voice strong with determination.

"I don't think you could fly in these wind gusts, Flora," Timmy told her. He also could point out that the snow and ice would probably shred her skin before she could conquer a spell or that her ivy probably wouldn't be able to latch onto the ship given the speeds they were travelling but Timmy didn't bother to voice them. After all, the main reason he was stopping Flora from going outside to try and melt the ice was because Helia would kill him if he allowed Flora to put herself in any danger.

"And besides that our magic won't work against a storm spirit," Tecna also pointed out.

"Storm spirit or not, we better find a solution soon 'cause the ice is getting thicker by the second," Brandon reminded them all. "Come on people. Think! No idea's too out there."

"No idea's too out there," Bloom repeated, her eyes and voice distant as an idea formulated in her mind. When she spoke again, the Last Princess of Sparx's voice was clear and confident. "I got an idea but you're gonna have to trust me."

"I'm listening," Sky replied instantly. Even if they weren't desperate for a solution he'd trust her and it wasn't just because she was his girlfriend. Bloom had proven in the past to be extremely resourceful and always came through in a pinch. Even though she had only known about the Magical Universe for just over two years, Bloom had incredible knowledge of the monsters, spells and ships used in Magix.

"The friction of a power dive would heat up the exterior of the hull," Bloom pointed out and she didn't have to say anymore. Everyone instantly knew what she was thinking and it was by far the most practical and safest way to get rid of the ice.

"Let's try it. Hang on everyone!" Sky ordered and those where were standing quickly ran for their seats.

"Fast freefalls make me mega queasy," Stella announced and everyone silently agreed with her but there was really no other option. There was nothing they could do from inside the ship and they sure as hell weren't going to risk sending anyone outside. A power dive was the only way.

"Don't pull up 'til I say so, Sky," Bloom told her boyfriend. "Promise?"

"Okay," Sky agreed. He gave the engines one final boost to gain a little bit of momentum before he killed them and let the ship fall. The ship started to rapidly descend and with the clouds surrounding them it left them all a little disoriented. All they had to go on were their monitors, which were going crazy as the ground came closer and closer.

"Getting dizzy," Stella groaned loudly as the ship fell through the air. "Feel like I'm turning greener than I already am."

Suddenly the ship broke out of the cloud barrier and the ground came into view. It was getting closer at a frighteningly fast pace but Bloom made no effort to order Sky to pull the ship up. Brandon panicked at that point. Bloom was practical and resourceful but she had never actually piloted a ship. Brandon admired the Last Princess of Sparx greatly and trusted her with his life but that didn't mean he was going to trust her with the command of a free falling ship that she really didn't understand how to control. Her naiveté might be endearing but he wasn't about to let Stella get killed because of it.

"Pull up Sky!" he begged his best friend, pulling on his arm when he failed to respond. "Pull up!"

However Sky remained firm in his trust of Bloom's judgement. "Not until Bloom says."

"World is spinning," Stella moaned, her eyes clenched shut. "Gonna hurl."

"Pull up Bloom?" Brandon asked, praying that she would agree. The ice was cracking and a few flakes of it had fallen off but there were still several large sheets attached to the front of the ship.

"Not yet," Bloom said, her eyes clenched shut but she was obviously waiting for something.

"Pull up Bloom!" Musa and Flora both shouted as the ground started to come dangerously close. The tension within the cockpit was so thick that it was almost a tangible substance.

"Now Sky!" Bloom suddenly ordered as the remaining sheets of ice fell off. "_Now!_"

Kicking in the boosters to life again, Sky quickly veered the ship upwards and just managed to avoid hitting the mountains that made up the Barrier Mountain Range. The hull of the ship was now completely ice-free and they had fallen below the clutches of the storm spirit that had been attacking them with wind, ice and snow, promoting many of the girls to clap and cheer in relief.

"We made it?" Stella asked as she uncovered her eyes at the sound of her friends cheering. Her voice was a mixture of relief and surprise, which pretty much summed up how the others all felt as well.

"Yeah, we're in the clear and according to the instruments we pull up with about three inches of ground clearance," Sky informed them all. Brandon, who was still hanging onto the back of Sky's chair, _sigh_ed heavily and looked like he was ready to just sink to the ground after yet another near death experience. Sky, however, was buzzing with jubilation and pride at his girlfriends impressive feat. "Pretty awesome, Bloom."

"Thanks," Bloom smiled at him. Sky had half a mind to abandon his piloting duties so that he could kiss his girlfriend senseless but a sudden announcement from Musa put that thought and other forms of celebration out of everyone's minds.

"Hey, some kind of bird is following us," the musical fairy said, her navy eyes on the clouds above the ship. "And it looks kinda big."

"I hope that's not what I think it is," Bloom prayed but her worst fears proved correct when out of the clouds dropped a massive monster with the head and chest of an eagle and the hind and tail of a lion. It was a griffin and it looked incredibly dangerous and intimidating. It was big – slightly larger than the squad ship they were travelling in – and it was zeroing in on them like a hawk. In one precise attack, the griffin latched onto the ship with the talons on its bird-like front legs and then its dangerously sharp beak began trying to pry its way into the ship and to the tasty little snacks inside.

And no matter what Sky did, he couldn't manoeuvre the ship away from the monster's grasp. "It's got the ship!"

* * *

_(1) I originally wrote this chapter back when season four of Winx Club was only just coming out so I just invented my own interpretation of merperson society. What I came up with was a society with prominent gender segregation; the mermaids lived close to shore and kept up relations with the humans while the merman patrolled the seas to protect them from the dangers of the oceans. They'd come together to reproduce but they mainly kept to their own gender. Then season five happened . . . shit. That is why the merpeople of Tides have a weird oligarchy going on where the mermaids and the male courters AKA tritons live in the city while the lower class merman patrol the sea_

_(2) Band of Brothers Chapter Twelve – Truth or Dare_

_(3) The number of pages in a deluxe addition of Lord of the Rings that I own_

_(4) As I think I mentioned in an earlier chapter I had to make up a lot of stuff to give Nabu a bit more depth. I ended up borrowing/stealing a few ideas for him from Howl out of the movie 'Howl's Moving Castle' such as his monster transformation. At one point during the film Calcifer mentions that wizards that turned themselves into monsters for the King to fight in the war, which is why I tried to make transformation a bit more complicated than the shows makes it look like _

_(5) Once again I imagined the mermen of Tides/Andros being very different from the way they ended up looking in season 5. I wanted them to be badass warriors with a culture unlike anything the show had presented so far. As a result I did take some inspiration from New Zealand's Māori culture because it is such a strong, beautiful ethnic group that has powerful ties with water. Please note that I'm trying to offend anyone by doing this. I actually mean it as a compliment because I wanted badass mermen and you don't need to take a history lesson to know that Māori's earned the respect they get today. The original draft of this had a few more Māori terms in it but I dialed it back to just a) wai = (noun) water, liquid b) muto = (noun) cut & (noun) i__sland, country, land, clump of trees, ship - anything separated or isolated c) __kāmaka = (noun) rock, stone_

**_TBC._**


End file.
